Filed Date: Sept. 11, 2025
Case Ongoing
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In National Alliance to End Homelessness & Women’s Development Corporation v. Turner, the case tests whether HUD may attach sweeping political and ideological conditions to federal homelessness funding.
On September 11, 2025, the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) and the Women’s Development Corporation (WDC) filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island before District Judge Mary S. McElroy and Magistrate Judge Austin E. McConaghy, naming Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner and the Department of Housing and Urban Development as defendants. Plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward Foundation, the National Homelessness Law Center, the ACLU Foundation of Rhode Island, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island, with cooperating local counsel at DeLuca, Weizenbaum, Barry & Revens, Ltd.
The suit challenges HUD’s September 5, 2025 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO, FR-6902-N-25A), which abruptly altered eligibility for $75 million in Continuum of Care permanent supportive housing funds, due to expire September 30, 2025. The new NOFO conditioned eligibility on jurisdictional mandates (e.g., enforcement of anti-camping laws, cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, and SORNA compliance) and applicant attestations (e.g., rejecting safe-consumption sites and affirming that “sex is binary and immutable”), with funding awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
The amended complaint asserts ten counts:
Count I: Violation of the Administrative Procedure Act: In Excess of Statutory Authority (All New Criteria).
Count II: Violation of the Administrative Procedure Act: Contrary to Law (All Jurisdiction-Based Criteria) (p. 24).
Count III: Violation of the Administrative Procedure Act: Arbitrary and Capricious (All New Criteria) (p. 24).
Count IV: Violation of the Administrative Procedure Act: Contrary to Constitutional Right (All New Criteria) (p. 26).
Count V: Violation of the Administrative Procedure Act: Contrary to Law and Not in Observance of Procedure Required By Law (All New Criteria) (p. 26).
Count VI: Violation of the Separation of Powers (All New Criteria).
Count VII: Violation of the Spending Clause (All New Criteria).
Count VIII: Violation of the Tenth Amendment (All Jurisdiction-Based Criteria).
Count IX: Violation of the Administrative Procedure Act: Contrary to Law (Sex Binary Criterion).
Count X: Violation of the First Amendment – Free Speech Clause (Sex Binary Criterion).
Count XI: Ultra Vires (All New Criteria).
Count XII: Violation of the Administrative Procedure Act: Agency Action Unlawfully Withheld or Unreasonably Delayed.
Alongside the complaint, plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO). They asked the court to (1) enjoin HUD and Secretary Turner from obligating or disbursing any of the $75 million under the Sept. 5 NOFO, (2) suspend the statutory lapse of funds past September 30, (3) order HUD to maintain the funds pending further order, and (4) require HUD to report compliance within three business days.
The relief sought includes declaratory judgment, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to vacate the new criteria and preserve the funds, and attorneys’ fees. Plaintiffs do not seek damages. The suit is not a class action and has not been consolidated with other litigation.
On November 13, 2025, the plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island in National Alliance to End Homelessness v. Turner, seeking a final ruling in their favor without a trial. The motion argued that there were no genuine disputes of material fact and that plaintiffs were entitled to judgment as a matter of law based on the arguments set forth in their accompanying memorandum.
The defendants filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on December 4, 2025, arguing that HUD lawfully exercised its statutory discretion in issuing the challenged Continuum of Care Builds funding criteria. Defendants contended that Congress granted the HUD Secretary broad authority under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to allocate lump-sum appropriations and to establish grant terms and conditions, rendering those decisions largely unreviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act. They argued that the jurisdiction-based criteria were intended to ensure compliance with existing federal law and that the agency’s actions were reasonable, supported by policy considerations related to public safety and self-sufficiency, and permissible departures from prior administrations’ approaches. Defendants further asserted that the abbreviated application period was justified by an emergency waiver due to the impending expiration of the funds. They argued that plaintiffs’ constitutional claims merely repackaged statutory arguments, conceded that they were not defending the “Sex Binary Criterion” as drafted, and maintained that any relief should be limited to vacatur and remand rather than a broad permanent injunction.
This case is ongoing.
Summary Authors
Michael Vandergriff (10/3/2025)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71316650/parties/national-alliance-to-end-homelessness-v-turner/
McElroy, Mary Susan (Rhode Island)
Bateman, Kristin (Rhode Island)
Fasanelli, Antonia K. (Rhode Island)
Hubbard, Kevin Love (Rhode Island)
Labinger, Lynette J. (Rhode Island)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71316650/national-alliance-to-end-homelessness-v-turner/
Last updated Jan. 17, 2026, 1:02 a.m.
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Fair Housing/Lending/Insurance
Public Benefits/Government Services
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration 2.0: Challenges to the Government
Key Dates
Filing Date: Sept. 11, 2025
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Plaintiff NGOs suing to restore shelter funding alleging it was retaliatorily withdrawn for housing undocumented immigrants.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Attorney Organizations:
Lawyers Comm. for Civil Rights Under Law
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Scott Turner, Secretary of Housing & Urban Development (- United States (national) -), Federal
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.
Constitutional Clause(s):
Spending/Appropriations Clauses
Other Dockets:
District of Rhode Island 1:25-cv-00447
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Relief Sought:
Relief Granted:
Source of Relief:
Issues
Benefits (Source):
Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 11301 et seq.