St. Paul’s Pursuit of ‘Ideologically Driven Projects’ Renders City Ineligible for Housing Funds: HUD Secretary

St. Paul is ineligible to participate in the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP), the Department of Housing and Urban Development has determined, after it conducted a review of city laws that go beyond the traditional Fair Housing Act parameters to label “sexual or affectional orientation” and “status with regard to public assistance” as protected classes.

Although the Fair Housing Act includes a number of protected classes, including race, color, sex, and more, it makes no special accommodations for “sexual or affectional orientation” and “status with regard to public assistance.” Sexual orientation refers to one’s pattern of sexual attraction to men or women. Affectional orientation refers to one’s pattern of romantic attraction to men or women, as in, pansexual.

“President Trump was elected in part to end the unlawful discrimination that is promoted through DEI,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said. “Therefore, it is our promise to the American people to end federal funding for organizations that promote a divisive and destructive application of civil rights laws. HUD will no longer allow agencies to use taxpayer dollars for these ideologically driven projects and is committed to enforcing the Fair Housing Act to protect all Americans.”

Through the FHAP, HUD provides funding to local agencies that administer housing laws in compliance with the Fair Housing Act. When a local jurisdiction makes substantive amendments to law, they are required to notify HUD, so the department can conduct a substantial equivalence review.

St. Paul’s Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity (HREEO) amended its human rights ordinance in 2023 without notifying HUD, the department said in a letter. HREEO also claimed in 2024 that it had made no changes to the ordinance since 2015.

Because HREEO “failed to notify the department,” HUD will withdraw and not renew HREEO’s eligibility for the FHAP — marking the first time the Trump administration has decertified a local agency that receives federal dollars for enforcing fair housing laws.

HUD’s latest move in St. Paul is part of a broader strategy to restore the true meaning of civil rights and to curb diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts prioritized under former Democratic administrations.

“For far too long federal regulators colluded with left-wing state and local governments to cast every political question as a civil rights matter,” Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor said. “This arrangement has allowed ideologically captured local civil rights agencies to infringe upon religious liberty, chill free expression, deny biological truth, and racialize everything. Under Secretary Turner’s steadfast leadership, we will no longer permit places like Minnesota to hijack the noble cause of civil rights to serve an extremist political agenda.”

Multiple agencies within the Trump administration have committed to rooting out fraud and corruption in Minnesota, after federal prosecutors uncovered a multibillion dollar fraud scandal.

HUD officials said the agency will review FHAP organizations nationwide to ensure local jurisdictions that receive federal dollars comply with federal law.

The department’s “decision not to renew certification and to terminate HREEO from FHAP” is effective immediately, HUD said in a letter sent to HREEO on Tuesday. “The Department will no longer refer to HREEO or accept complaints from HREEO for dual-filing.”