Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today, as part of a coalition of 21 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, supporting fair housing organizations in their appeal of a ruling that lifted a temporary restraining order blocking the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from canceling these organizations’ grant funding.
“The legacy of discrimination and segregation in housing continues to negatively affect the overall health of communities and limits the potential of neighborhoods throughout the United States,” Raoul said. “HUD is required to provide this funding under federal law, and it is crucial to the continued efforts to dismantle decades of discriminatory housing practices. I stand with my fellow attorneys general to oppose the Trump administration’s unlawful overreach in canceling this funding.”
Congress established the Fair Housing Initiative Program (FHIP) to provide funding to private, nonprofit housing organizations that work to prevent and eliminate discriminatory housing practices and enforce state and federal fair housing laws. According to the brief, in February 2025, HUD suddenly canceled 78 preexisting FHIP grants to housing organizations engaged in fair-housing work in 33 states. The cancellations were effective immediately and with no prior warning, despite HUD being statutorily required to provide such funding.
A group of 66 nonprofit fair housing groups subsequently sued HUD in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, and on March 26, the court granted a temporary restraining order reinstating the organizations’ grant funding. A week later, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an interim ruling in a separate case, and HUD sought to dissolve the district court’s temporary restraining order based on that interim ruling. On April 14, the district court granted HUD’s motion. The groups have appealed that order.
In their brief, Raoul and the attorneys general argue that the temporary restraining order should be reinstated because the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their lawsuit. Additionally, if allowed to take effect, HUD’s sudden revocation of funding will upend the important work of housing organizations, resulting in more housing discrimination being left undetected and unaddressed, which harms their states and residents. In Illinois, Raoul’s office has collaborated with FHIP-funded organizations to identify and address housing discrimination, including by securing relief for individuals with disabilities and members of other protected classes who have faced discriminatory treatment in housing.
Joining Attorney General Raoul in submitting this brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.
