The City of Columbus has signed onto another lawsuit against the Trump administration.
Columbus is joining several other communities in suing the Trump administration for what it calls “an unconstitutional infringement on congressional funding powers,” related to conditions placed on funding marked for homelessness prevention.
Columbus stands to lose around $1 million in Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant funding to fight homelessness unless it complies with the Trump administration’s executive orders on gender identity, immigration, abortion, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“Just last week, the Franklin County Point-in-time-Count showed that homelessness in our region is at an all-time high,” Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said in a statement.
The Community Shelter Board’s annual point-in-time count of those experiencing homelessness showed a more than 7% rise in overall homelessness in Franklin County from Jan. 2024 to Jan. 2025. Ginther said cutting federal funding to programs aimed at fighting homelessness would deprive the community’s most vulnerable residents of needed resources.
The lawsuit filed Friday in a Washington state federal court asks a judge for a temporary and permanent injunction to stop the funding cuts. It also asks for the judge to rule the funding conditions as unconstitutional.
New York City, Boston, San Francisco, and several counties have also signed onto the suit. The suit singles out U.S. Department of Housing Secretary Scott Turner, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Federal Transit Administration Director Matthew Welbes.
Columbus is already involved in other lawsuits against the Trump administration, including one suit challenging cuts to infectious disease programs and another against a freeze on federal funding for community-based programs, including Columbus' Recreation and Parks Department’s tree canopy program.
Ginther also flew to Washington, D.C. on Monday afternoon to talk with members of Congress about Trump's proposed "skinny budget," that proposes more than $160 billion in cuts, which would impact Columbus' funding.
Ginther told WOSU that more than 50% of Columbus Public Health employees are funded by federal grants and resources. He said Trump's proposed cuts could be "devastating."
He added that cities like Columbus are the economic drivers of America.
"I mean, you take a look at the metro economy's GDP for Ohio and for America, it's all about metro economies. And in order for us to do our part for Ohio in America, cities have to be safe, healthy, thriving places," Ginther said.
Ginther will return to Columbus on Wednesday.
