Waymaker achieved a major win in our case against the Trump administration on behalf of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the backbone of Los Angeles’ homelessness prevention efforts. In June 2026, the administration’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the suspension of all federal funding to LAHSA.
On August 13, 2026, the Central District of California granted our motion for a preliminary injunction on the grounds that “HUD’s rash suspension … will significantly harm the public interest.” With this injunction in place, LAHSA will be able to distribute the $248.2 million already earmarked for its use in 2025 by Congress—a loss that would have, as the court’s opinion noted, “result[ed] in deaths among the homeless and the displacement of over 11,000 unhoused individuals onto the streets and into the neighborhoods of Los Angeles.”
The Waymaker team is led by partners Keri Curtis Axel and Scott Malzahn, and includes Becky James, Ashley Martabano, Sam Meehan, and Emily Stierwalt. In a statement to the press, Keri said, “HUD’s decision to issue a sweeping, immediate suspension on the eve of critical funding deadlines was legally indefensible. As the Court noted, HUD cannot bypass explicit statutory rules passed by Congress and pull the rug out from an entire metropolitan region without rational justification. We are pleased the Court held the agency accountable.”
The win was covered by top publications in the legal and media spheres, including the Los Angeles Times and Courthouse News.
