The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday temporarily paused U.S. District Judge David O. Carter's order requiring more than 2,500 housing units on the 400-acre West Los Angeles VA campus while the federal government decides whether to petition the U.S. Supreme Court. The panel gave VA officials until Dec. 10 to decide and said that if they do not appeal by then "the stay will be lifted immediately." Plaintiffs' attorney Mark Rosenbaum said the government has "lost every time they have taken this to court."
A Ninth Circuit panel denied the government's request to halt construction in September 2026; Carter's underlying order dates to 2024 in a case filed by unhoused veterans in 2023.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb issued an order late Wednesday in National Urban League et al. v. Trump et al. suspending the Sept. 30 deadline that would otherwise have caused $56.1 million in FY2025 HUD Housing Counseling Assistance funds to lapse, while the court considers the ten nonprofit plaintiffs' request for broader relief. The order followed a Sept. 29 complaint alleging HUD unlawfully withheld appropriated money and retaliated against grantees for their viewpoints; WRE News reported the order did not resolve those allegations and that the government argued the court lacks power to override a congressional deadline. The court directed the parties to continue briefing through Oct. 19.
The White House's Sept. 25 rescission proposal sought to cancel $56.1 million of the $58 million appropriated for the program.
Roll Call · on the National Urban League suit over the $56M housing counseling rescission
The National Urban League and state and local housing nonprofits sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on the night of September 29 to block the $56 million HUD housing counseling cut included in the administration’s $810 million pocket rescission, arguing it violated the Impoundment Control Act and the Constitution. In decision B-338788, GAO’s general counsel concluded on September 29 that the September 25 special message, covering 11 appropriation accounts, does not permit withholding the funds past the end of FY2026 because the 45-day review period runs at least to November 9. New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a separate suit on September 30, and her office said more than 7,000 New York households were at risk of losing counseling services; Sen. Jeff Merkley’s unanimous-consent request to nullify the rescission was blocked by Budget Chairman Ron Johnson.
The pocket rescission was transmitted September 25; the GAO decision is B-338788 and the New York complaint was announced by the attorney general’s office on September 30.
NLIHC reported that on September 21 the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted summary judgment to a coalition of attorneys general led by New York and vacated HUD’s November 26, 2025 notice designating CDBG, HOME, Continuum of Care and other programs as “federal public benefits” requiring immigration-status verification under PRWORA, along with parallel notices from DOJ, HHS, Labor and Education. The court held the agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act by skipping notice-and-comment rulemaking and left open the possibility of future rulemaking. The court docket lists the case as New York et al. v. U.S. Department of Justice et al., No. 1:25-cv-00345 (D.R.I.), with 21 attorneys general as plaintiffs.
HUD’s PRWORA notice was published in the Federal Register on November 26, 2025; a February 18, 2026 DOJ Office of Legal Counsel opinion separately concluded PRWORA applies to all HUD housing programs.
National Network for Youth · on the First Circuit's vacatur and remand of the CoC NOFO ruling
The First Circuit on September 24 vacated the Rhode Island district court's August 7 judgment that had set aside HUD's FY2026 Continuum of Care NOFO and remanded both appeals for further proceedings after the plaintiffs withdrew the notice-and-comment claim on which the district court had ruled; the mandate issued September 28. NN4Y reported that the NOFO, which provides $4.04 billion and includes a $1.3 billion set-aside for transitional housing and supportive-services-only projects, remains in effect as written, with applications due September 30 at 8:00 PM ET, and that the district court can now rule on the plaintiffs' remaining claims, including the threshold criteria and the law-enforcement-policy requirement. HUD's competition page states the department must make awards by December 1, 2026, and that CA-600 (Los Angeles) applications have a separate October 14 deadline.
The First Circuit's September 16 stay order found HUD “has made a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits” of its argument that the set-aside is not a “bonus or other incentive” under 42 U.S.C. § 11386b(d).
Ten state attorneys general, from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington, filed a response on September 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina opposing RealPage's argument that its settlement with the Justice Department moots the states' Sherman Act claims. RealPage had told the court the settlement reached at the end of 2025 resolved the same claims. The states wrote that none of the claims against RealPage, Camden or Pinnacle "have been rendered moot by the agreed-upon Final Judgment entered as a compromise between the United States and RealPage, to which the States are not parties."
The states sued alongside the federal government in the original DOJ antitrust case; the Justice Department settled with RealPage at the end of 2025 without the states joining.
A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday declined, 2-1, to stay U.S. District Judge David Carter's preliminary injunction blocking HUD from suspending the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, writing that HUD's explanation for suspending LAHSA during the FY2026 application cycle "runs counter to the evidence before the agency." The order requires HUD to send over grant money it already approved and lets LAHSA continue applying in the roughly $239 million regional funding process before an extended October 14 deadline. Judge Ryan Nelson dissented; the dissent has not yet been made public.
The Ninth Circuit hears oral argument on HUD's appeal of the injunction October 19, and Carter's injunction is set to expire October 27.
National Alliance to End Homelessness · on the Alliance's emergency First Circuit motion against the reopened CoC NOFO
The National Alliance to End Homelessness said it filed an emergency motion asking the First Circuit to vacate the Rhode Island district court's ruling and remand the case so the district court can rule on the plaintiffs' remaining claims, or alternatively to expedite the appeal, with the stated aim of stopping the FY2026 Continuum of Care funding notice before HUD makes awards under it. The August district court ruling held that HUD could not incentivize transitional housing or supportive-services-only projects through a $1.3 billion set-aside without notice and comment. HUD reopened the NOFO with a September 30 deadline after the First Circuit allowed the competition to proceed during the appeal.
The First Circuit ruled September 16 that HUD could move forward with the FY2026 CoC NOFO while its appeal of the vacatur proceeds.
A Ninth Circuit panel in San Francisco heard argument Tuesday on HUD's request for a stay pending appeal of Judge David O. Carter's preliminary injunction, which blocked HUD's suspension of $239 million in funding for the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Judge Roopali Desai called HUD's position on the September 30 collaborative-applicant deadline a "gotcha" argument, while Judge Ryan Nelson said Congress provided for direct applications to HUD by service providers. Judge Jacqueline Nguyen said the panel would try to rule as speedily as possible given the September 30 application deadline.
Carter's August injunction warned the suspension would displace more than 11,000 unhoused people.
Office of the New York Attorney General · on federal court ruling vacating PRWORA immigration-status verification rules for social service programs
A federal court granted summary judgment on September 21 to a coalition of 21 attorneys general, vacating the administration's July 2025 policy that redefined broad categories of federally funded programs as restricted "federal public benefits" under PRWORA, which would have required providers to verify immigration status and turn away people unable to establish eligibility. Programs covered by the vacated rules included Head Start, Title X clinics, food banks, domestic violence shelters, adult education, and community health centers.
The same coalition secured a preliminary injunction against the policy in September 2025.
LAist · on unexecuted FY2025 Continuum of Care renewal grant agreements
LAist reported that HUD has not executed more than 1,300 FY2025 Continuum of Care renewal grant agreements nationally — about one in five — as of September 14, according to court documents, with the delays tied to HUD's legal dispute with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority over grant conditions. In Los Angeles, the delays are expected to affect more than 50 local service providers, and dozens of grants totaling nearly $65 million could be affected by the end of the year. HUD told LAist it is not currently required to execute the agreements after the Ninth Circuit issued an emergency stay pending its ruling on HUD's appeal.
The Ninth Circuit stayed Judge David O. Carter's August order directing HUD to execute the agreements; the court is scheduled to hear arguments on HUD's appeal September 22.
The DHS public-charge rule took effect Friday, September 18, with no publicly reported court order blocking it as of publication. Immigration officers may now weigh applicants' use of means-tested benefits — including federal housing assistance, SNAP, WIC and Medicaid — in green-card adjudications for applications filed on or after that date. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, sued in federal court in Manhattan on September 14 to block the rule.
The states' complaint says that for benefits received before September 18, 2026, officers will only consider public cash assistance for income maintenance.
A three-judge panel of the First Circuit stayed U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy's ruling that had barred HUD from setting aside $1.3 billion of the roughly $4 billion FY2026 Continuum of Care appropriation for transitional housing and supportive-service-only grants. The panel said the administration was likely to succeed in establishing that the set-aside was not subject to notice-and-comment requirements, and that HUD would suffer irreparable injury absent a stay because it must make awards by December 1, 2026. McElroy's vacatur had come in suits brought by 22 states, the District of Columbia, and a coalition of homelessness and housing groups.
McElroy set aside the FY2026 CoC NOFO in its entirety on August 7 for lack of notice and comment; the appeal is First Circuit case 26-1923.
Courthouse News Service · on denial of HUD's motion to dismiss housing authorities' grant-conditions suit
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in Oakland denied the federal government's motion to dismiss, or transfer to Washington state, a lawsuit by the housing authorities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Baltimore, and Salem challenging DEI-related conditions on HUD's Operating Subsidy, Capital Fund, Family Self-Sufficiency, and Multifamily Housing Service Coordinator grants. The government had argued the suit duplicated an earlier case over different HUD grants; Tigar wrote that "the two suits challenge identical grant conditions imposed on distinct grants received by distinct entities."
Tigar issued a temporary restraining order in October 2025, three days after the suit was filed.
Stateline · on public-charge rules counting housing assistance against immigration applicants
Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia, and separately a coalition of six cities and counties including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, King County, and Santa Clara County, filed lawsuits September 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against DHS and USCIS over rules letting immigration officers count enrollment in public benefits, including housing assistance, as a "public charge" ground for inadmissibility. The rules rescind a 2022 policy that excluded non-cash benefits and take effect Friday, September 18. The city coalition's suit argues roughly 1.3 million people, including 600,000 children, could lose care and coverage in those jurisdictions.
Under the 2022 policy now rescinded, non-cash benefits such as housing assistance were excluded from public-charge consideration.
U.S. District Court, D.R.I., via CourtListener · on plaintiffs' unopposed motion to correct the FY2026 CoC NOFO judgment
Plaintiffs in NAEH v. HUD filed an unopposed motion September 4 asking the district court to recast its August 7 judgment setting aside HUD's FY2026 Continuum of Care NOFO as a Rule 54(b) partial judgment, and then to resolve their still-pending claims against OMB, which challenge two footnotes OMB attached when it apportioned approximately $4 billion in FY2026 CoC funds on May 22. Because HUD's appeal is pending, plaintiffs seek an indicative ruling first; responses are due September 18.
In the First Circuit appeal (26-1923), HUD's emergency stay motion remained pending as of the appellate docket's September 9 update, after the panel ordered supplemental briefing that concluded September 2.
CourtListener · on HUD's pending stay motion in the CoC NOFO vacatur appeal
Appellees — including NAEH, NLIHC, Boston, Cambridge, Tucson, Santa Clara County, King County, and Nashville — filed their supplemental response September 2 to the First Circuit panel's questions on HUD's set-aside authority under 42 U.S.C. § 11382(a) and the meaning of "bonuses or other incentives" in § 11386b(d)(1). HUD filed its supplemental memorandum August 31, and under the panel's schedule its supplemental reply is due by 5 p.m. today, September 4. As of the docket's September 3 update, the panel had not ruled on HUD's emergency motion to stay the vacatur of the FY2026 Continuum of Care funding notice.
The District of Rhode Island vacated the FY2026 CoC funding notice on August 7; the panel's August 27 order set the supplemental briefing schedule that ends with today's reply.
Next City reported that an Ithaca, N.Y. landlord argued source-of-income discrimination laws force landlords to consent to government inspections in violation of the Fourth Amendment, that courts have twice agreed, and that the argument has since appeared in a dozen cases across the country. Per University at Buffalo law professor Heather Abraham, 24 states and 150 counties or municipalities have source-of-income discrimination laws, and 60% of voucher holders live in areas covered by them.
CourtListener · on First Circuit supplemental-briefing order on HUD's motion to stay the CoC NOFO vacatur
A three-judge First Circuit panel (Montecalvo, Aframe, and Dunlap) ordered supplemental briefing on HUD's emergency motion to stay the vacatur of the FY2026 Continuum of Care funding notice pending appeal, directing the parties to address whether 42 U.S.C. § 11382(a) gives the Secretary discretion to set aside Continuum of Care funds so long as congressionally mandated set-asides under § 11386b(a) and (b) are met, and what "bonuses or other incentives" means in § 11386b(d)(1). The order set appellants' supplemental memorandum for August 31 at 5 p.m., appellees' response within two days thereafter (September 2), and any reply within two days after that.
The District of Rhode Island vacated the FY2026 CoC funding notice on August 7, and briefing on the stay motion itself closed August 24 with HUD's reply.
CourtListener · on First Circuit supplemental-briefing order on HUD's emergency stay motion
With HUD's emergency stay motion fully briefed since August 24, a three-judge First Circuit panel — Judges Montecalvo, Aframe and Dunlap — on August 27 ordered both sides to file supplemental memoranda on two statutory questions: whether 42 U.S.C. § 11382(a) gives the Secretary discretion to set aside Continuum of Care funds beyond the congressionally mandated set-asides in § 11386b(a) and (b), and what "bonuses or other incentives" means in § 11386b(d)(1). HUD's memorandum is due August 31 by 5:00 p.m., with the appellees' response due within two days and any reply two days after that.
The court's August 17 briefing order had stated it "intends to rule promptly on the matter," and the stay motion was fully briefed as of HUD's August 24 reply.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun of the District of Massachusetts on August 26 blocked HUD's plan to restructure Fair Housing Initiatives Program grants, ordering the agency to distribute the funds under the previous year's framework in a suit brought in July by the National Fair Housing Alliance and the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center. Joun wrote that HUD's reasons for the replacement funding notice were "pretextual" and that its modernization rationale "belies credulity," noting the proposal contained only five awards and excluded organizations with annual budgets below $5 million; the plan would have affected more than 100 community-based nonprofit fair housing organizations. A HUD spokesperson said the agency "stands behind the lawfulness of its NOFOs" and will avail itself of all legal options.
The affected organizations collectively handle about 75% of housing discrimination complaints filed in the U.S., per the article.
Street Roots · on tear gas lawsuits by Gray's Landing low-income housing tenants
Street Roots reported on two lawsuits seeking to limit federal officers' use of chemical munitions near the ICE facility on South Macadam Avenue — one filed by the ACLU on behalf of protesters and journalists, the other by REACH Community Development, owner of the adjacent low-income Gray's Landing apartments, alongside residents. Two orders by federal judges in Oregon limiting tear gas use are on hold, and appellate judges heard oral arguments on July 10. DOJ attorneys argued federal officers are protected from "incidental" impacts to bystanders caused by crowd-control measures.
The appellate panel heard oral arguments on the merits of both cases on July 10; two of the three judges were appointed by President Trump.
The San Francisco Standard · on Ninth Circuit ruling on HUD and DOT grant conditions
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on August 25 upheld an injunction blocking conditions HUD and the Department of Transportation attached to already-awarded grants, which required recipients to certify they run no programs violating federal anti-discrimination law, promise not to spend funds promoting "gender ideology" or elective abortion, and verify recipients' immigration status. Writing for the panel, Judge M. Margaret McKeown found most conditions "far exceed the limited authority set out by Congress and superimpose onerous requirements well after the government already awarded grant funds"; the panel held Title VI does permit nondiscrimination assurances and remanded for the district court to narrow its injunction accordingly, with Judge Patrick Bumatay dissenting. San Francisco's city attorney said the ruling protects roughly $240 million in annual HUD funding to the city, including about $50 million for homelessness services, plus some $2 billion in DOT funds.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein in Seattle blocked the conditions in June 2025; the administration appealed that order.
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit via CourtListener · on HUD's reply brief completing First Circuit stay briefing in the CoC NOFO appeal
HUD, Secretary Scott Turner, OMB, and Director Russell Vought filed their reply in support of the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal on August 24, docketed at 1:28 p.m., ahead of the court's 5:00 p.m. deadline; the filing completed the briefing schedule the First Circuit set on August 17, under which the ten appellees responded August 21. The court, which said it intends to rule promptly, had not ruled as of the docket's last update Monday evening.
The appeal challenges the District of Rhode Island's August 7 judgment vacating HUD's FY2026 Continuum of Care NOFO; the district court denied the same stay request on August 13.
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit via CourtListener · on the appellees' response to HUD's emergency stay motion in the CoC NOFO appeal
The ten appellees — including the National Alliance to End Homelessness, NLIHC, Boston, Santa Clara County, and Tucson — filed their response to HUD's emergency motion for a stay pending appeal on August 21 at 4:28 p.m., meeting the court's 5:00 p.m. deadline. HUD's reply is due by 5:00 p.m. today, August 24, and the court's August 17 order said it "intends to rule promptly on the matter"; no ruling appears on the docket as of its August 22 update.
The district court denied the same stay request on August 13, holding HUD had not presented "a new, previously-unrejected basis on which they will likely succeed on the merits."
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit via CourtListener · on First Circuit expedited briefing on HUD's emergency stay motion in the CoC NOFO case
HUD filed an emergency motion for stay pending appeal directly in the First Circuit on August 14, one day after the district court denied its emergency stay of the August 7 order vacating the FY2026 Continuum of Care NOFO. On August 17 the First Circuit ordered plaintiffs-appellees to respond by 5:00 p.m. August 21 and HUD to reply by 5:00 p.m. August 24, and said it intends to rule promptly.
HUD's CoC competition page states the 2026 NOFO and its August 26 application deadline are no longer in force and that HUD is unable to accept applications.
The American Prospect · on the DOJ settlement talks over COVID eviction-moratorium damages
The Justice Department is in settlement talks with rental property owners, led by Darby Development, who sued in 2021 claiming damages from the federal COVID eviction moratorium, after DOJ declined late last year to seek Supreme Court review of an appellate ruling that revived the case. The settlement was estimated earlier this year at $1.5 billion covering about 1,500 property owners, and plaintiffs' counsel said the group has grown to more than 2,000 plaintiffs, requiring a new damages estimate. The Prospect reported the plaintiff class is dominated by LLCs and investment vehicles controlled by Starwood Capital Group, Dominium, and Morgan Properties, though it also includes small proprietors.
The Supreme Court held in summer 2021 that the CDC's extension of the moratorium exceeded executive authority, the ruling DOJ originally cited in seeking dismissal of the claims-court suit.
U.S. District Court, D.R.I. via CourtListener · on HUD's appeal of the CoC NOFO vacatur and denial of its emergency stay
HUD, Secretary Scott Turner, OMB, and Director Russell Vought filed a notice of appeal on August 13 from the August 7 order that set aside the FY2026 Continuum of Care NOFO, and moved for an emergency stay of the judgment pending appeal, requesting relief by August 17. Judge Mary S. McElroy denied the stay the same day, writing that the defendants failed to present a new basis on which they would likely succeed on the merits. The First Circuit assigned the appeal case number 26-1923 on August 14.
The vacated NOFO's original application deadline was August 26, 2026; responses to the stay motion in the district court were due August 27.
A federal judge in the District of Rhode Island rejected grant conditions the administration imposed on federal grants administered by HHS and HUD in Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence v. Kennedy. The plaintiff coalition of domestic violence, sexual assault, housing, youth, and homelessness organizations had sued to block conditions targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and transgender rights; Democracy Forward said the decision follows an earlier order preliminarily blocking the restrictions.
The case was filed July 21, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, the same court that set aside HUD's FY2026 CoC NOFO on August 7.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction finding HUD acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it suspended the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority from managing federal homelessness funds, and ordered LAHSA restored as master applicant when the funding process is redone — about $240 million on behalf of 140 service providers under the application originally due Aug. 26. Carter set a trial date in February, ordered the Los Angeles Continuum of Care to deliver a review by Oct. 13 of agencies that could replace LAHSA, and ordered HUD to execute stalled contracts with providers that have been working without reimbursement. HUD Secretary Scott Turner posted on X that the administration would "fight this legally."
HUD suspended LAHSA on June 11; a separate Aug. 7 ruling in Rhode Island threw out HUD's 2026 homelessness spending plan, nullifying the Aug. 26 application deadline.
The Rhode Island ruling vacating HUD's FY2026 CoC NOFO eliminated the August 26 application deadline at issue in the LAHSA case, and Judge David O. Carter said he was interested in setting a trial date as early as February 2027. The court is weighing temporary relief over $240 million in federal funding that providers across LA County rely on to serve 11,000 people, according to local homelessness officials.
HUD suspended LAHSA from federal grant activity in June 2026, and Carter granted a stay on July 2 maintaining funding during the litigation.
NH&RA · on HUD's posted guidance canceling the August 26 CoC application deadline
HUD posted guidance on its CoC Program Competition page stating the 2026 NOFO and its August 26, 2026 application deadline "are no longer in force" and that it is unable to accept applications at this time. HUD said further guidance and updates will come via the SNAPS Competition Listserv and HUD.gov; NH&RA noted the same judge previously ruled against HUD's FY2025 NOFO changes, a ruling HUD unsuccessfully appealed.
The FY2026 NOFO was vacated by a federal judge in Rhode Island on August 7.