King County Files Lawsuit Against Trump Over Housing

 

NEWS: King County files lawsuit against Trump administration over unlawful restrictions to housing and homelessness services

Summary A national coalition of local governments and nonprofit organizations filed a lawsuit on Monday, December 1 challenging the Trump administration’s unconstitutional action imposing unlawful conditions on the Continuum of Care grant program that seek to limit or dismiss proven housing solutions like permanent supportive housing. Story On Monday, a coalition of seven local governments and four nonprofit organizations, including King County, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island against the Trump administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The lawsuit challenges the Trump administration’s unlawful and unreasonable restrictions to the Continuum of Care (CoC) grant program in order to receive federal funding for permanent supportive housing and homelessness services. HUD’s current CoC investments in permanent supportive housing are at risk if renewal grants are not protected, impacting an estimated 4,500 households in King County. The HUD Notice of Funding Opportunity released last month dramatically lowers the cap on longstanding funding for permanent supportive housing, a proven housing model, and requires King County to prioritize outreach services, temporary transitional housing, abstinence from substances, and mandatory behavioral health treatment. In addition, new awards will not be executed until May 2026. With previous grants expiring in January, the lag in new funding will likely create a large funding gap before new awards are made which could lead to program closures or interruptions. “The housing crisis demands coordinated action to break the cycle and bring more people inside, especially as we enter the winter months. These unlawful actions by the administration will only worsen the crisis, causing more homelessness and devastating communities across our region,” said King County Executive Girmay Zahilay. “This is why I am joining other jurisdictions from around the country to protect these federal investments, maintain progress to create and operate more affordable housing, and prevent more people from living unsheltered. We know that investing in permanent supportive housing and leveraging federal funds to open more doors is a critical part of our strategy. Last year alone, 95% of King County households in permanent supportive housing remained permanently housed. We will do everything in our power to keep people housed and make progress on ending the homelessness crisis.” In addition to violating federal law, the grant requirements from the administration force King County and other local governments to compromise existing strategies and reduce the ability to renew existing projects. The requirements also include vague prohibitions on projects that include “racial preferences,” and authorize HUD to consider media reports, public complaints, or an organization’s “history of subsidizing activities that conflict” with the grant announcement as grounds to deny funding. "Eliminating or reducing permanent supportive housing to fund punitive services and temporary housing doesn't save money. It simply shifts the costs to shelters, emergency rooms, jails, and our streets, impacting communities throughout the state. With thousands of families in King County at risk of losing their homes, I'm proud to join other elected officials in standing up for our neighbors and fighting for the solutions we know work,” said State Rep. Nicole Macri, legislator from Seattle and a member of Executive Zahilay’s Transition Committee. “For decades, the Continuum of Care (CoC) has been the bedrock of our local homelessness response—funding evidence-based, life-saving permanent housing and services for our most vulnerable households. Now, because of cruel conditionalities tied to the CoC funds that are designed to upend these proven housing solutions, thousands of people in our county are at risk of losing their homes. This lawsuit is what leadership looks like given our community and the supportive housing system we’ve spent years building is under direct threat. Thank you to Executive Zahilay for your swift and strong action to push back on these cruel and unlawful actions by the federal administration,” said King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda. Last week, Washington’s Attorney General Nick Brown filed a multi-state lawsuit against HUD for violating congressional intent by dramatically reducing the amount of grant funds that can be spent on permanent housing and project renewals and putting new unlawful conditions on access to the funding. The state Department of Commerce administers CoC funding for thirty-four small and medium-sized Washington counties. The local governments and nonprofit organizations filing today’s lawsuit have noted it as a related case so that the same judge can be assigned to both. King County joins a national coalition of local jurisdictions — including Santa Clara County, the City and County of San Francisco, Boston, Nashville, Tenn., and Tucson, Ariz. — in bringing suit to declare the Trump administration’s actions unlawful. The complaint can be found online here.