OLYMPIA, WA — Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has joined a multistate coalition in filing a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), arguing the agency’s sweeping changes to a key homelessness-response program will unlawfully push thousands of people back into homelessness.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island, contends HUD is violating federal law by abruptly restructuring its Continuum of Care grant program — funding that supports housing stability services across the country. According to Brown, the changes slash long-term housing support, impose new requirements that contradict existing federal statutes, and create administrative hurdles for providers.
HUD’s updated policy would sharply reduce the amount of grant funding available for permanent housing while adding conditions such as limiting recognition to two genders, requiring mandatory service participation to receive housing, and penalizing providers in jurisdictions that do not enforce strict anti-homelessness ordinances. Brown said these changes represent a dramatic shift from HUD’s longstanding “Housing First” model, which prioritizes providing housing without preconditions.
“Congress designed this program in recognition that homelessness is a crisis that requires immediate stabilization and continuing support to reverse,” Brown said. “These changes are designed to trap people in poverty and then punish them for being poor.”
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson called the move a “cruel attack” on vulnerable residents, noting the state receives roughly $120 million annually through Continuum of Care grants. Most of the funding supports programs in King, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, and Clark counties, while the remaining $25 million aids rural communities.
Local providers warned the revised rules would destabilize established housing networks that rely on consistent funding. Yakima and Bellingham housing organizations say the proposal undermines evidence-based practices that have taken decades to build and would inevitably lead to more people living unsheltered.
HUD’s rule changes — which Congress did not authorize, according to the lawsuit — cut allowable permanent housing funding by two-thirds and reduce renewal protections for existing programs from 90% to 30%. Providers argue these shifts virtually guarantee mass evictions of people who have already secured stable housing.
The coalition asserts HUD failed to follow legally required rulemaking procedures and acted arbitrarily by disregarding the consequences of dismantling long-standing federal policy. The complaint was filed by Brown, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, alongside several other states and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
For more information, the Attorney General’s Office directs the public to its website at www.atg.wa.gov.
