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A U.S. District judge issued a temporary court order earlier this week blocking the Trump administration from imposing what local officials are calling “illegal conditions” on federal grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Transportation.
Last month, Santa Clara County and a coalition of about 30 local governments filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging what it claims are “politically motivated funding conditions” on an estimated $4 billion in federal grants for housing and transportation.
U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein, from the Western District of Washington at Seattle, granted a preliminary injunction on June 3 preventing HUD and DOT from imposing or enforcing new grant conditions on the jurisdictions, according to a Santa Clara County press release.
“At a time when local jurisdictions are facing incredible budget challenges, the court’s order acknowledges the harm being caused by the Trump administration’s overreach in placing unconstitutional conditions on critical funding awarded to cities and counties to combat homelessness,” Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti said in the press release.
According to the injunction, the lawsuit argues that the funding conditions imposed by HUD and DOT seek to force local governments to submit to a political agenda unrelated to the purpose of the grants.
The conditions were imposed after the grants were conditionally awarded in January, and include mandates prohibiting “the ‘promotion’ of ‘gender ideology’ and ‘elective abortions,’” the injunction said. The conditions also require jurisdictions “to verify that ‘any federal public benefit’ will not be provided to any ‘ineligible alien.’”
The lawsuit alleges that the conditions exceed congressional authority and violate the Constitution and other procedural regulations, the injunction said.
For Santa Clara County, not complying with the conditions would result in a big cut to its homeless prevention programs and services. It receives $33 million in Continuum of Care funding, one of the grants singled out by HUD, according to the press release. The program supports nonprofit community organizations that provide rental assistance and case management services for individuals and families experiencing housing insecurity.
“Countless low-income families, young adults, survivors of domestic violence, and people with disabilities rely on this federal grant funding to stay housed every day,” LoPresti said.
“The court’s timely intervention prevents the federal government from abandoning their responsibility to our community and allows us to continue to provide critical rental assistance and housing services to those in need in Santa Clara County,” he added.
Other sources of federal funding that support homeless prevention efforts are the Community Development Block Grant program and Home Investment Partnership Program, both of which are funded by HUD.
Neither of these programs were mentioned in the press release or court injunction, but each year Mountain View receives about $600,000 to $700,000 in CDBG and HOME grants, according to the city website. The funding goes towards developing and maintaining affordable housing, as well as financing public improvements and public service agencies that serve lower income households.
Mountain View spent $6.4 million in federal grants last fiscal year, with most of it coming from HUD, according to a February budget report. Approximately $4.1 million from the CDBG program and $2 million from the HOME program went to rent relief programs and the conversion of the Crestview Hotel into an affordable housing community.
Mountain View also spent $200,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to support the upgrade of traffic signal systems at Shoreline Boulevard and Villa Street, the report said.
The injunction to prevent the Trump administration from imposing new conditions on grants applies to departments overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation as well, including the Federal Transit Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Railroad Administration, according to the press release.
