California has continued its efforts to stymie the Trump administration’s policies, successfully blocking a change in homelessness strategy — for the time being.
In November 2025, after the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mandated that jurisdictions use no more than 30% of federal homelessness funds for permanent housing, California Governor Gavin Newsom joined other states in suing to stop the changes. After a federal judge in Rhode Island shot down the policy shift, the Trump administration appealed their decision, but recently dropped their appeal, leaving the original funding in place as litigation continues.
Notably, HUD’s new rules included diverting funding away from “harm reduction,” a failed do-gooder liberal strategy that ostensibly seeks to wean homeless addicts off drugs by nursing their habit. California and its most entrenched activists have long followed a “housing first” delusion, where there is no meaningful effort to force addicts into treatment, or require sobriety as a condition of long-term housing.
Leftist homeless advocacy groups have attempted to position “harm reduction” as the evidence-based approach to the problem, predictably being more concerned with appearing nonjudgmental than actually helping drug addicts stabilize. As ever, their focus is on people’s “right” to do hard drugs, even if that “right” leads to self-destruction and urban decline.
The “Housing First” approach to homelessness has proven so flawed that certain politicians in blue cities have echoed at least part of the Trump administration’s shift in approach. San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey, for instance, has proposed legislation that would allow permanent supportive housing programs to evict residents for drug use. Currently, under California law, residents cannot be kicked out solely for drug use.
Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed similar legislation in 2025, which would have allowed up to 10% of state homelessness funds to go toward sober housing. Despite pushback from voters and select politicians, opposition to abstinence-based drug programs and forced treatment remains common in state Democratic circles. If the Trump administration ultimately prevails against California and the other states’ lawsuit, its new policies will thankfully override Democratic obstinance, clean up the streets, and help addicts who can’t help themselves.
