Arguing that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) imposed new funding restrictions on federal funding homeless assistance programs that unlawfully condition access certain HUD grants on compliance with the political goals of the Trump administration, rather than Congress’ directive to administer its appropriated funding, the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the Women’s Development Corporation on September 11, 2025 filed a lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order against HUD and HUD Secretary Scott Turner.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, asserts that HUD’s newly imposed criteria for $75 million in “Continuum of Care (CoC) Builds” fiscal year 2025 (FY25) grants are unconstitutional and unlawful.

HUD is now on its third iteration of application rounds for these funds (previously announced awards for these funds have been invalidated by HUD); the latest application round was announced the week of September 1 (with a seven-day deadline) for CoC Builds grants that will expire if not committed by September 30, 2025.

Regarding HUD’s newest application, the plaintiffs say the agency “has introduced extreme political criteria to the application.”

The plaintiffs further contend that under the new funding application rules, service providers and communities are blocked from applying for federal housing funds for new Permanent Supportive Housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness if they operate in jurisdictions with policies the Trump administration disfavors. The latter include states and cities with sanctuary protections; those that provide services considered “harm reduction,” such as Safe Drug Use Criteria practices; or those that have inclusive policies for transgender people. Read the complaint here.

Also on September 11, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, sent a letter to the HUD Inspector General calling for an investigation into the Department’s handling of the grant award process for the CoC Builds program. “Running three separate and very different funding competitions for the same set of funds is inefficient, wasteful, and no way to run any program. This Administration has now wasted hundreds of hours of local organizations’ time that could—and should—have been spent working to address homelessness,” the senators write.

LeadingAge, many of whose members build Permanent Supportive Housing and otherwise work diligently to prevent and end homelessness, continues to work with our members, HUD and Congress to make sure that HUD is efficiently administering funding appropriated by Congress to meet the severe housing affordability challenges facing older adults and the workforce who serve them across the country.