PASADENA – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday heard arguments in a high-profile appeal over a federal judge’s sweeping order requiring the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to build nearly 1,800 additional units of permanent supportive housing for unhoused veterans on or near its sprawling West Los Angeles campus.
The order, issued by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, came after he found the VA had mismanaged the 388-acre Brentwood property and failed to meet its obligations to chronically unhoused veterans, many of whom are disabled and in need of long-term medical care. But federal government attorneys argued the ruling exceeds judicial authority.
“The remedies here are what cause me concern—the reach of what Judge Carter is trying to do,” a Ninth Circuit judge said during oral arguments. “It basically says that Judge Carter is now going to run the VA.”
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