White House says Trump to sign order pushing cities and states to remove homeless people from streets
President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order aimed at giving state and local governments greater authority to remove homeless individuals from public spaces and redirect them to treatment and rehabilitation programs. The order, scheduled for July 24, represents a significant shift in federal policy regarding homelessness and public safety.
According to a White House summary obtained by USA TODAY, the order will instruct Attorney General Pam Bondi to take steps to overturn existing court rulings and terminate consent decrees that currently restrict cities and states from relocating unhoused people from sidewalks, parks, and encampments. The administration argues that these legal constraints have limited officials’ ability to address public disorder and connect people with needed services.
As part of the initiative, the federal government will reroute funding to support the relocation of homeless individuals into facilities offering rehabilitation, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, and other social services. The White House did not specify how much funding would be allocated, but officials indicated that the support would be tied to compliance with the new enforcement guidelines.
Titled "Ending Vagrancy and Restoring Order," the executive order also directs Bondi to coordinate with the heads of the Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation. Together, they will prioritize grants to jurisdictions that take action against visible homelessness. Specifically, funding will favor states and municipalities that enforce bans on open drug use, unauthorized camping, loitering, and squatting in urban areas. The order also calls for efforts to monitor the whereabouts of registered sex offenders within homeless populations.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to USA TODAY that the move is consistent with Trump’s broader law-and-order platform. “President Trump is making good on his promise to restore safety in America’s communities and put an end to the homelessness crisis,” Leavitt said. “By removing dangerous criminals from our neighborhoods and investing in treatment and recovery services, the administration is focused on both public safety and compassionate care for those struggling with addiction or mental illness.”
The president’s announcement follows a pivotal Supreme Court ruling in June, which gave cities more legal latitude to criminalize camping in public places. In a 6-3 decision, the Court upheld an ordinance in Grants Pass, Oregon, that bans people from sleeping outdoors in public spaces. The ruling effectively reversed a previous decision that had prohibited such laws in cases where shelter space was unavailable—arguing that enforcement under those circumstances amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
Under the Grants Pass ordinance, homeless individuals can face a $250 fine for the first offense and possible jail time for repeated violations. The court’s conservative majority concluded that local governments must be empowered to regulate public spaces in the interest of health and safety, regardless of housing availability.
Trump’s executive order aligns with this ruling, and may embolden other cities to ramp up enforcement against homeless encampments, particularly in urban areas where homelessness has been a persistent challenge. Advocates for the homeless, however, warn that criminalizing the unhoused without ensuring adequate access to housing and services may only deepen the crisis.
Still, the Trump administration argues that stronger enforcement, coupled with redirection of resources to treatment, is necessary to bring what it calls “chaos and lawlessness” under control in many American cities. The order marks one of the most sweeping federal actions in recent memory targeting homelessness, and could reshape how local governments approach the issue moving forward.