Federal judge blocks the Trump administration's attempt to take control of L.A.'s homelessness programs

A federal judge issued a scathing order Thursday blocking a gambit by the Trump administration to take control of federal funding for homelessness programs in Los Angeles County.

In issuing a preliminary injunction , U.S. District Judge David O. Carter found that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it suspended the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority from managing federal homelessness funds. He set a trial date in February.

The June 11 suspension disqualified LAHSA from submitting an application, due Aug. 26, for about $240 million on behalf of 140 providers of homeless services. HUD said the suspension was necessary, citing negative audits and news reports going back more than a decade. LAHSA filed suit, alleging the abrupt action was a pretext for the Trump administration’s intention to impose its own short-term housing policy with an emphasis substance abuse and mental health treatment over the local priority of support for permanent housing.

“Today’s ruling is a vital victory for our unhoused neighbors, our dedicated service provider network, and the entire Los Angeles region,” said Gita O’Neill, Interim CEO of LAHSA, in statement. “By halting this abrupt suspension, the Court has ensured that life-saving housing and shelter programs remain operational without catastrophic disruption. LAHSA remains fully focused on supporting our service providers, and advancing transparent, accountable regional coordination.”

U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner posted on X that the administration would “fight this legally.”

“The court ordered HUD to send tens of millions of dollars directly to LAHSA, an organization that has proven to be incompetent with YOUR tax dollars. The money that YOU worked hard to earn!”

The decision was the second rebuke of HUD in less than a week, as a federal judge in Rhode Island issued a ruling Aug. 7 that threw out the agency’s 2026 spending plan, finding it shifted funding priorities without a required review.

The Rhode Island ruling nullified the Aug. 26 deadline, removing the emergency from the Los Angeles case but leaving open the question of whether HUD’s suspension of LAHSA would stand.

Carter closed that loop, ordering HUD to restore LAHSA as the master applicant for the funding plan when it is redone. But his ruling, incorporating his own frequent criticisms of LAHSA, left the future of the embattled agency in doubt.

He ordered a review to be delivered to his court by Oct. 13 of other agencies that could replace LAHSA as the manager of federally required homeless programs. In addition to submitting the master grant application, those include maintaining a homeless database and conducting the annual count.

The review would be done by the Los Angeles Continuum of Care, a behind-the-scenes board of community members that fills a congressionally mandated role guiding policy for federally funded programs.