BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Bellingham has a joined a suit against the Trump administration for what the mayor calls an abuse of executive power.

Mayor Kim Lund made the announcement on Monday night during Bellingham City Council’s regular meeting.

In May, five counties and three cities filed the federal suit against Scott Turner, head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Department of Transportation was also named in the suit.

Bellingham, along with nearly 60 local governments, signed on to King County v. Turner after the suit was filed in federal district court.

According to the suit, funding approved by Congress has been withheld unless municipalities adopt policies in line with the federal government’s stances on immigration enforcement, DEI initiatives, gender identity and abortion access.

The suit alleges the attempts to impose policy changes on local governments in order to receive funding is unconstitutional, violating the 5th and 10th Amendments as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.

Mayor Lund says that adopting the federal policies would go against the community’s core values.

“It’s unacceptable and possibly unlawful to use housing and transportation funding as leverage to force the city of Bellingham to adopt unrelated federal policies,” Lund said. “We are standing up to protect vital services against what we believe to be executive overreach and what courts will ultimately decide to be unlawful attacks against cities like ours.”

Public Rights Project, co-counsel on the case, says that on July 14 they filed a request for a preliminary injunction to protect the newly added plaintiffs and grant programs while the case proceeds.

The 2025 Preliminary Budget for Bellingham expects over $45 million from state and federal governments.