Dive Brief:
- The Chicago Housing Authority has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over its new requirement for public housing authorities to certify that federal funds will not be used to fund or promote diversity, equity and inclusion mandates, policies or programs, “gender ideology,” elective abortions and immigration-related policies.
- CHA is seeking a temporary restraining order against the HUD mandate ahead of today’s deadline for the annual application for federal operating subsidies. The lawsuit focuses primarily on federal Operating Subsidy Grants, which provide more than 13% of CHA’s budget, or $185 million.
- “We are asking the court to step in and provide guidance on the lawfulness of the conditions HUD is seeking to impose,” CHA Operating Chairman Matthew Brewer said in a statement. “This intervention is a necessary last resort since our discussions with HUD have been limited due to the government shutdown.”
Dive Insight:
The day he took office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for an end to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government. Since then, stipulations barring inclusive language and programs have crept into requirements for grants and funding from agencies including HUD and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The actions have sparked a flurry of lawsuits. Last month, housing coalitions sued HUD over similar criteria for its permanent supportive housing grants. The suit resulted in a temporary restraining order.
CHA, the third largest public housing authority in the country, serving 135,000 city residents, said it anticipates that HUD “may impose these certifications across additional federal funds and programs, which could implicate more than $1 billion” of its federal funding.
HUD has been operating with an extremely limited staff since the Oct. 1 government shutdown. Some previously approved HUD funding was still available in the short term following the shutdown. However, the longer the shutdown continues, the bigger the risk of disruption for housing programs, according to experts.
