California and 15 other states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of threatening to cut federal funding to states that provide broader protections against housing discrimination than federal law requires.
According to LAist, the lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. At the center of the legal fight is the Fair Housing Act of 1968, a federal civil rights law that bans landlords from discriminating against renters based on seven characteristics: race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability.
Many states have gone further than federal law, extending protections to renters based on gender identity, sexual orientation, veteran status, and the use of government housing vouchers like Section 8. But last September, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) told state and local agencies that the Fair Housing Act “does not include protections” for those additional groups. HUD’s guidance also said states cannot use federal funding to promote “gender ideology,” “elective abortions,” or “illegal immigration.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a news conference Monday that the Fair Housing Act sets a floor for enforcement, not a ceiling.
“Under this guidance, states like California could lose millions in federal funding if we continue enforcing these broader protections,” Bonta said. “HUD’s proposal would weaken California’s ability to take action when a landlord denies someone housing based on their status as a veteran or as a senior or a LGBTQ plus individual.”
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul co-led the lawsuit alongside Bonta. The other states joining the suit are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
The complaint alleges the Trump administration’s threat to pull funding violates the U.S. Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner pushed back on the lawsuit in a post on X, calling the state attorneys general “leftist” and accusing them of running “to a San Francisco courthouse in a desperate attempt to obstruct President Trump’s America First agenda through political lawfare.”
“Their latest stunt will not succeed,” Turner wrote. “As Secretary, I will continue enforcing the Fair Housing Act as written and intended. That is to ensure equal rights under the law, not extra rights for politically favored groups.”
The ACLU has raised alarm over HUD’s broader rollback of fair housing enforcement, noting that the agency has abruptly dismissed major investigations into systemic housing discrimination, terminated hundreds of employees in its Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, and rescinded key guidance on criminal record screening and source-of-income discrimination.
Bonta said he hopes the court will order the federal government to halt the new HUD guidelines within weeks. The suit marks California’s 62nd legal challenge against the Trump administration.
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