Press Release: 8/11/2026

AG Campbell Secures Victory In Lawsuit Protecting Federal Support For Homelessness Services

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

8/10/2026

 

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and a multistate coalition of 22 other states won their lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over its illegal attempt to cap funding for permanent housing projects that help families facing housing insecurity or experiencing homelessness. If the coalition had not successfully challenged HUD’s policy, tens of thousands of people across the country would have lost their homes. 

“Once again, the Court has ruled that the Trump Administration cannot arbitrarily rip stable housing away from more than 90,000 families across the country and block our efforts to end homelessness,” said AG Campbell. “I will continue to defend funding for essential programs that help our most vulnerable residents get back on their feet.” 

For more than two decades, HUD has embraced a commitment to permanent housing programs and the Housing First model, which prioritizes rapid placement in permanent housing without requiring people to first meet conditions such as sobriety or a minimum income threshold. But the current federal administration has rejected that commitment and undermined the Continuum of Care (CoC) program.  

In June, the states won a separate case against HUD in federal court in Rhode Island regarding the agency’s decision last year to impose illegal conditions on billions of dollars in funding for the CoC program, including an attempt to impose a cap on the amount of CoC funds that can support permanent supportive housing.  

After that cap was struck down as unlawful, HUD changed its tactics. They issued a notice of funding opportunity that would have created a $1.3 billion set-aside for new projects prioritizing such things as transitional housing, which would have resulted in a de facto cap on permanent housing. That shift threatened housing for at least 97,000 residents of CoC-funded permanent housing across the country according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. 

AG Campbell again joined a coalition of states in suing to block these harmful changes. The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted critical parts of the coalition’s motion for summary judgment, ruling that HUD’s set-aside was unlawful and cannot be implemented. 

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

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