Press Release  AG Campbell Challenges Trump Administration’s Attack On States’ Fair Housing Laws

Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to challenge unlawful actions by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), including threats to withhold funding from state and local fair housing enforcement agencies and to impose illegal conditions on HUD funding. These actions weaken the country’s fair housing enforcement system and undermine states’ ability to ensure equal access to housing. If left unchallenged, these unlawful actions risk weakening tools to combat housing discrimination in Massachusetts and states across the country.

“The Trump Administration has already recklessly dismantled the offices responsible for enforcing national housing discrimination laws and now they are attacking states’ ability to perform this critical work,” said AG Campbell. “As someone who grew up in public housing, stable housing is an essential need for any family, and I will continue to stand up against this Administration’s unlawful attempts to gut our fair housing laws and tools of enforcement.”

Sixty years ago, Congress enacted the Fair Housing Act to address pervasive housing discrimination. Congress also created a robust partnership between HUD and state and local agencies, known as the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP), to enforce this landmark civil rights law in tandem with state fair housing laws. The FHAP has had strong bipartisan support in Congress and stable funding since it was established in 1980. 

In today’s lawsuit, AG Campbell and the attorneys general argue that the Trump Administration is seeking to illegally undermine this partnership by attacking states’ ability to combat housing discrimination under their own democratically enacted state laws.

Through the FHAP, HUD refers allegations of housing discrimination to state and local partner agencies for investigation and enforcement. These agencies receive HUD funding, which they use to process housing discrimination complaints, train staff, and support community outreach and education. 

In September 2025, HUD issued guidance to state agencies threatening to decertify them from the program and cut off funding unless they stop enforcing crucial protections against housing discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, language, criminal records and source of income. The guidance also bars agencies from pursuing claims targeting housing practices that may appear neutral but, in reality, are discriminatory and have a disparate impact on certain populations. In Massachusetts and many other states, these fair housing protections are enshrined in state law. 

In addition to the threat to decertify partner agencies, HUD is attempting to impose vague, ideologically motivated, and unlawful conditions on program funding. 

In their complaint, AG Campbell and the attorneys general assert that the Administration’s actions will raise the costs of enforcing state and federal fair housing laws in their states. They also argue that HUD’s vague conditions will sow confusion over enforcement.

The attorneys general note that this unlawful ultimatum comes after HUD gutted its own fair housing enforcement capabilities by slashing its workforce and significantly reducing the number of housing discrimination cases it charges. The agency also fired employee whistleblowers after they publicly sounded the alarm about its decimation of fair housing enforcement.

The coalition’s lawsuit alleges that HUD’s guidance violates the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies implement rule changes. 

Joining AG Campbell in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. 

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