Press Release  AG Campbell Sues Trump Administration Over HUD Policy That Would Put More People Into Homelessness

Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and a coalition of 20 other states today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for placing unlawful restrictions on Continuum of Care grant programs that dramatically reduce the amount of grant funds that can be spent on permanent housing and project renewals that help ensure housing continuity. The new restrictions also place unlawful conditions on access to the funding, including mandating that housing providers only recognize two genders and denying housing to people unless they can commit to participating in program services. The conditions also punish providers that do not enforce strict anti-homeless laws.   

“Massachusetts has a housing crisis, and it affects all of us – families, seniors, students and young people alike. Research has shown that getting people off the streets and into stable housing builds a foundation for addressing other pressing needs like job training, mental health care, and substance use treatment,” said AG Campbell. “Instead of helping us tackle our critical housing problem, the federal government is standing in our way and putting thousands of vulnerable people at risk. We will continue to challenge this Administration’s cruel and illegal policies that harm our residents and impede our progress.”  

For decades, HUD has helped local and regional partners plan and coordinate housing and services for people experiencing homelessness through Continuum of Care grants, which were created by Congress. Providers pair these grants with other funding sources and rely on the predictability and continuity of the grants to support the unhoused. Previously, HUD has steered approximately 90% of Continuum of Care funding to support permanent housing, but the agency’s new rule – which Congress never authorized – would cut that by two-thirds for grants starting in 2026. Similarly, HUD has long allowed grantees to protect around 90% of funding year to year – essentially guaranteeing renewal of projects to ensure that individuals and families living in those projects maintain stable housing. But HUD has slashed this figure to only 30%. Because of these new policies, tens of thousands of formerly homeless people in permanent housing nationwide will likely be evicted through no fault of their own when the funds aren’t renewed. 

 HUD also has a longstanding policy of encouraging a “Housing First” model that provides stable housing to individuals without preconditions like sobriety or a minimum personal income. These policies improve housing stability and public health while reducing the costs of homelessness to individuals and their communities. The agency explicitly encouraged grantees to implement Housing First policies as recently as last year. Contrary to HUD’s own regulations, these new grant conditions de-prioritize services to people with mental health issues or substance-use disorder and discriminate against localities whose approach to homelessness differs from the Administration’s. The conditions also withhold funds to applicants that acknowledge the existence of trans and gender-diverse people. 

There are 11 Continuum of Care programs in Massachusetts that receive over $136 million in funding each year from HUD to support housing and supportive service programs for nearly 4,000 chronically homeless, homeless, and disabled families and individuals. The programs serve our state’s most vulnerable populations, including veterans, elders, people living with HIV and AIDS, runaway youth, domestic violence survivors, children, and families.  

The coalition argues these abrupt changes will limit access to long-term housing and other services and illegally upend supports for tens of thousands of Americans experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. They argue these barriers are in direct contrast to HUD’s previous guidance and Congress’ intent. Previous changes to the grant conditions have been incremental so as not to disrupt providers’ ability to provide housing and to budget for their programs well in advance. These wholesale changes will create administrative chaos and likely result in thousands of people losing housing. 

The coalition’s lawsuit argues HUD violated its own regulations by not engaging in rulemaking before issuing the changes and violated the law by not receiving congressional authorization for these new conditions, many of which are inconsistent with congressionally passed statutes and HUD’s own regulations. The plaintiffs also argue that HUD’s actions are arbitrary and capricious, as HUD has made no effort to explain the abandonment of their own longstanding policies or address the consequences of tens of thousands of vulnerable people suddenly being subject to eviction.  

Joining AG Campbell in filing this complaint are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania. 

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