HUD Ordered to Release Grant Funds After Anti-DEI Clawback

A federal judge ordered the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to release $30 million in rescinded grants to fair housing organizations, reports Jennifer Smith in Commonwealth Beacon. “The grants were targeted, according to a filing from Massachusetts US Attorney Leah Foley, after DOGE determined they were ‘incompatible’ with recent executive orders because they ‘include language that specifically imposes subjects such as ‘DEI.’’”

The nonprofits sued the Trump administration after funding was frozen on February 27. “The cuts, they said, struck a devastating blow at their efforts to investigate housing discrimination and educate members of the public about their rights, which depends on federal and state funding supporting those efforts.”

A U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts ruled that the department must distribute fair housing funds and could not terminate existing grants. As Smith explains, “As these HUD funds are congressionally allocated – and have been appropriated by lawmakers for decades since the Reagan administration – the department is limited to only terminating HUD grants if Congress approves or if cuts are done in a way that’s consistent with the Administrative Procedure Act, relevant regulations, grant terms and conditions, and the judge’s order.”