Judge blocks parts of Trump executive orders targeting DEI, citing free speech

A federal judge on Friday granted a preliminary injunction over parts of the Trump administration’s executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

The injunction largely blocks the sections of President Donald Trump’s orders that seek to end federal support for programs deemed to be DEI-related, and prevents the Trump administration from canceling contracts that they believe promote diversity, equity or inclusion. 

U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore, a Biden nominee, ruled that parts of the executive orders likely violate the Constitution and free speech.

“The harm arises from the issuance of it as a public, vague, threatening executive order,” Abelson said in a hearing this week, adding that it would discourage businesses working with the government from openly supporting DEI. 

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President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The ruling comes after the city of Baltimore, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United – which represents restaurant workers – sued the Trump administration over the executive orders, calling them presidential overreach and anti-free speech. 

“Ordinary citizens bear the brunt,” attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in the complaint. “Plaintiffs and their members receive federal funds to support educators, academics, students, workers, and communities across the country. As federal agencies make arbitrary decisions about whether grants are ‘equity-related,’ Plaintiffs are left in limbo.”

They argued that Trump was encroaching on Congress’ powers in order to champion his personal beliefs. 

“But the President simply does not wield that power,” they wrote in the complaint. “And contrary to his suggestions otherwise, his power is not limitless.”

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Trump signed an order on his first day in office directing federal agencies to terminate all “equity-related” grants or contracts. He signed a follow-up order requiring federal contractors to certify that they don’t promote DEI. 

A federal judge on Friday granted a preliminary injunction over parts of the Trump administration’s executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion. (Fox News)

The Trump administration argued in a Wednesday hearing that the president was only banning DEI programs that violate federal civil rights laws. 

“What’s happening is an overcorrection and pulling back on DEI statements,” attorney Aleshadye Getachew said in a hearing. 

A second federal lawsuit was also filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday targeting Trump’s DEI executive orders. The new complaint was filed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Lambda Legal on behalf of nonprofit advocacy organizations. 

The lawsuit is aimed at Trump’s executive orders: “Ending Radical and Wasteful DEI Programs and Preferencing,” “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” and “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.” 

President Trump with members of his Cabinet in the Oval Office.  (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

White House spokesman Harrison Fields said both lawsuits represented “nothing more than an extension of the left’s resistance,” adding in a statement to the New York Times that the administration was “ready to face them in court.”

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“Radical leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda,” Fields said.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.