Appeals – Stay

Listen to this article

Where a U.S. District Court judge granted requests for preliminary injunctions after the Department of Housing and Urban Development made sudden and dramatic changes to the Continuum of Care (CoC) program, HUD’s request for an emergency stay pending appeal should be denied because HUD has not made a “strong showing” that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its appeal.

“To assist homeless individuals and families in the United States, Congress authorized the Continuum of Care (CoC) program in 2009. Under that program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) distributes funds each year to state and local entities to provide housing for millions of residents, including children, the elderly, and domestic-violence survivors. For years, consistent with Congress’s intent, HUD administered the CoC program to ensure continuity and stable access to housing for the people it served.

“In November 2025, HUD made sudden and dramatic changes to the CoC program. Those changes put hundreds of housing projects at risk of losing funding within just weeks, leaving the thousands of individuals and families who rely on that funding to once again face homelessness during the coming winter. Two groups of plaintiffs sued to challenge HUD’s actions, and the district court granted their requests for preliminary injunctions. Importantly, HUD chose not to appeal those orders. Instead, two months later, it moved to dissolve the injunctions in light of Congress’s 2026 appropriations law. After the district court denied that motion, HUD appealed and now requests an emergency stay pending appeal. Although the facts and procedural history of this case are complicated, the decisive issue before us is narrow: Has HUD made a strong showing that the district court overlooked some significant change in law or fact and thus abused its discretion in denying the motion to dissolve? We conclude that HUD has not met that burden and thus is not entitled to the extraordinary relief of a stay.”

State of Washington, et al. v. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, et al.; National Alliance to End Homelessness v. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 01-067-26) (41 pages) (Rikelman, J.) Appealed from a decision by McElroy, J., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. Brett A. Shumate, Yaakov M. Roth, Daniel Tenny and Sarah Clark Griffin on brief for the defendants-appellants; Nicholas W. Brown, Andrew R.W. Hughes, Zane Muller, Aliana Knoepfler, Andrea Alegrett, Cristina Sepe, Letitia James, Barbara D. Underwood, Judith N. Vale, Peter F. Neronha, Kathryn M. Sabatini, Jordan G. Mickman, Leonard Giarrano IV, Kristin K. Mayes, Hayleigh S. Crawford, William Y. Durbin, Rob Bonta, Jarrell Mitchell, Michael L. Newman, Joel Marrero, Brian Bilford, Lauren Greenawalt, Philip J. Weiser, David Moskowitz, Nora Passamaneck, William Tong, Andrew M. Ammirati, Brian L. Schwalb, Caroline S. Van Zile, Dia Rasinariu, Kathleen Jennings, Ian R. Liston, Vanessa L. Kassab, Rose Gibson, Andy Beshear, S. Travis Mayo, Taylor Payne, Laura C. Tipton, Kwame Raoul, Alex Hemmer, Aaron M. Frey, Katherine W. Thompson, Anthony G. Brown, James C. Luh, Dana Nessel, Neil Giovanatti, Andrea Joy Campbell, Katherine Dirks, Michelle Pascucci, Nita Klunder, Esme Caramello, Aaron Dulles, Lauren Yamaguchi, Keith Ellison, Brian S. Carter, Jennifer Davenport, Daniel Resler, Dan Rayfield, Scott P. Kennedy, Raúl Torrez, Anjana Samant, Jennifer C. Selber, Jacob B. Boyer, Stephen R. Kovatis, Charity R. Clark, Samuel B. Stratton, Joshua L. Kaul and Faye B. Hipsman on brief for the state of Washington, et al.; Amy R. Romero, Kevin Love Hubbard, DeLuca, Weizenbaum, Barry & Revens, Ltd., Kristin Bateman, Simon C. Brewer, Madeline H. Gitomer, Carrie Y. Flaxman, Aleshadye Getachew, Aman T. George, Christine L. Coogle, Yenisey Rodríguez, Robin Thurston, Democracy Forward Foundation, Tony LoPresti, Kavita Narayan, Meredith A. Johnson, Stefanie Wilson, Leily Arzy, David Chiu, Yvonne R. Meré, Mollie M. Lee, Sara J. Eisenberg, Ronald H. Lee, Michael Levin Gesundheit, Lynette Labinger, Antonia K. Fasanelli, Kathryn M. Scott, National Homelessness Law Center, Wallace W. Dietz, John K. Whitaker, Abby Greer, David J. Hackett, Christopher M. Sanders, Cristy J. Craig, Toby Merrill, Cassandra Crawford, Graham Provost, Kayla Svihovec and Public Rights Project on brief for plaintiffs-appellees National Alliance to End Homelessness, et al. (Docket Nos. 26-1217 and 26-1218) (April 1, 2026).

Click here to read the full text of the opinion.