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A district court judge has issued a temporary injunction preventing the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from terminating 78 Fair Housing Initiative Program (FHIP) grants for nonprofit organizations contracting to investigate housing discrimination.

Judge Richard G. Stearns, a Clinton administration appointee on the US District Court in the District of Massachusetts, ruled in favor of three nonprofits that sued HUD over the cancellation of approximately $30 million in grant funding. Lila Miller, a lawyer at Relman Colfax, the firm representing the nonprofits, argued the funds termination was illegal because the grants were allotted by Congress. Miller also claimed the termination of the funding was the result of input by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which had no authority to coordinate HUD’s policies.

Lisa Rice, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance, welcomed the court’s ruling.

“The action DOGE directed is endangering everyday people while empowering wealthy landlords and others to discriminate,” Rice said. “Fair housing organizations are on the front lines of efforts to combat housing discrimination through enforcement of the Fair Housing Act. Without their efforts, survivors of sexual harassment in housing; veterans with disabilities requiring accessible housing; and people of color seeking to buy a home free of racial harassment, and families with children would have no protection or anywhere to turn to uphold the law.”

HUD did not offer an immediate comment on the ruling.