Domestic Violence, Housing, and Youth Organizations Win Temporary Restraining Order on Funding Restrictions on Federal Grants
Aug 04, 2025
By Kayla Blackwell, NLIHC Housing Policy Analyst and Kayla Springer, NLIHC Policy Intern
A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order on the Trump Administration’s restrictions on federal housing and health services grants. The lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island by a nationwide coalition of domestic violence, housing, homelessness, and youth nonprofits, challenged HUD and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) funding restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) activities and prohibitions on support for transgender individuals (see Memo, 7/28). Advocates have celebrated the court’s order as a win for housing and domestic violence providers who can continue to provide life-saving services for survivors, LGBTQ+ youth, and people experiencing homelessness as the case moves forward.
U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose issued the temporary restraining order after a hearing, during which lawyers representing the coalition argued that the restrictions, intended to go into effect the next week, were vague, exceeded HUD and HHS authority, and violated nonprofits’ right to free speech. Although HHS changed its grant requirement policy to remove the restriction on “DEI” activities less than an hour before the hearing, the coalition’s lawyers maintained that the threat of prohibitions on DEI programming and other critical services was still present. As the case moves forward through a lengthier court process, DuBose asked the plaintiffs to narrow the scope of their lawsuit in response to the changes to HHS policy.
In the meantime, the temporary restraining order will allow the 22 participating domestic violence, housing, homelessness, and youth nonprofits to continue to receive critical federal funding without choosing between compliance and lifesaving services for survivors, LGBTQ+ youth, and people experiencing homelessness.
Read the full text of the temporary restraining order here.
Learn more about the lawsuit here.