The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) dropped an appeal of a previous court decision blocking it from implementing significant changes to a popular government program combatting homelessness, a legal filing on Monday revealed, but the agency is still seeking ways to reform it, an official told Scripps News.
Neither HUD nor the Department of Justice provided any rationale for dropping the appeal in its Monday filing, stating only that the federal government “respectfully moves to voluntarily dismiss its appeal.” In the meantime, the Trump administration’s proposed changes remain blocked while the case proceeds through lower court.
Last fall, HUD Secretary Scott Turner claimed his proposed changes to the Continuum of Care (CoC) program were needed to provide accountability and combat alleged fraud. The program provides billions in funding each year to states and localities to help formerly homeless people with housing and other support services. Turner’s reforms would limit the amount of federal funds allowed to be spent on long-term housing assistance, something advocates say could result in more than 170,000 people returning to homelessness.
Shortly after the changes were announced, a coalition of Democratic Attorneys General, bipartisan municipalities and homelessness-providing organizations filed two separate lawsuits seeking to block the policy from taking effect. In December, a federal judge in Rhode Island granted the groups’ request, issuing a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s changes.
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta, one of the Democratic state leaders behind the legal challenge, celebrated Monday’s revelation that HUD would drop its appeal.
“HUD’s unlawful funding restrictions have been rejected by the courts, and because the Trump Administration has now dropped its appeal, our preliminary injunction remains in effect while the case proceeds to summary judgment,” Bonta said in a statement. “People experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness need the federal government’s continued support — not a rollback of assistance. We will continue to closely monitor the Administration’s actions, seek accountability when the law is not followed, and litigate this case to the very end.”
A spokesperson for HUD declined to speak to the specifics of the decision to drop the appeal but suggested the agency was still seeking to reform the program.
“HUD remains committed to reforming the failed ‘Housing First’ approach and restoring the Continuum of Care program to its core objectives; reducing homelessness and promoting self-sufficiency for all vulnerable Americans, ensuring taxpayer dollars are directed towards those goals,” the official said.
The case now heads back to the lower court judge in Rhode Island, where the plaintiffs are seeking to permanently block the changes from being implemented.
The lower court had yet to provide any updating timing about next steps as of Monday evening.
