A federal district judge yesterday granted a preliminary injunction to Pacifica’s clients protecting billions of dollars in federal funds relied upon by communities across the country to support unhoused people, fund public transit, build and maintain highways and railways, and improve and develop airports. Pacifica is lead counsel for a coalition of 31 cities, counties, and housing and transit authorities that filed suit against the federal government to safeguard the funds.
Pacifica’s Washington clients include King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, Port of Seattle, and Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit). The coalition also includes cities, counties, and other local governments in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. The agencies named in the lawsuit as defendants include the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Railroad Administration.
The preliminary injunction prohibits those federal agencies from conditioning transportation and homelessness funds on these local governments’ agreement to adhere to the Trump administration’s policies to eliminate all forms of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, help with the administration’s aggressive and lawless immigration enforcement, target and punish transgender people, and cut off information about lawful abortions.
In granting the preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Barbara J. Rothstein ruled that Pacifica’s clients had shown that they are likely to succeed in demonstrating that the new funding conditions are unlawful. She agreed with Pacifica’s clients that “in attempting to condition disbursement of funds in part on grounds not authorized by Congress, but rather on Executive Branch policy,” the federal agencies likely “are acting in violation of the Separation of Powers principle” and in excess of their authority conferred by Congress. She also ruled that the funding conditions likely “must be set aside as ‘arbitrary’ and ‘capricious’” under the Administrative Procedure Act. She explained, the agencies “failed to demonstrate that the new funding conditions were the result of ‘reasoned decisionmaking,’ let alone have been ‘reasonably explained.’”
Judge Rothstein also found that Pacifica’s clients demonstrated that, absent a preliminary injunction, they would suffer irreparable harm due to the loss—or risk of losing—federal funds appropriated by Congress. “Adequate financial compensation for hundreds of shelter-unstable families losing access to housing does not exist; the same must be said of the incalculable effects of forcing unforeseen reductions in transportation spending,” Judge Rothstein wrote. “Homeless assistance and transit grants are essential tools in addressing these urgent community needs. Congress has consistently affirmed their importance by repeatedly authorizing these grants, underscoring the federal government’s vital role in supporting local governments as they confront the challenges of homelessness and maintenance of critical transportation infrastructure.”
The federal funds came under threat earlier this spring when federal agencies placed new conditions on grants in an effort to coerce local governments into cooperating with President Trump’s political agenda.
Pacifica initially filed suit on May 2, 2025 on behalf of eight cities and counties in five states, but after Judge Rothstein granted a temporary restraining order on May 7, 23 additional government entities representing communities in seven more states joined the plaintiff coalition. The financial implications of the lawsuit also increased exponentially, from hundreds of millions to an estimated $4 billion in federal funds.
The Pacifica litigation team includes Paul Lawrence, Jamie Lisagor, Sarah Washburn, Meha Goyal, Galen Knowles, and Luther Reed-Caulkins, and legal assistant Gabby DeGregorio.
Click here to read the order granting preliminary injunction.
