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US judge blocks Trump bid to ban DEI by federal agencies, contractors
The orders are part of Trump's larger efforts to eradicate DEI initiatives, which he and other critics say are discriminatory, from the government and the private sector.
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U.S. President Donald Trump reacts in the Oval Office of the White House, on the day Howard Lutnick is sworn in as U.S. Commerce Secretary by Vice President JD Vance, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 21, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard / Reuters
A federal judge in Maryland on Feb. 21 temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from implementing bans on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at federal agencies and businesses that contract with the federal government.
U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson said the directives by Trump and an order urging the Department of Justice to investigate companies with DEI policies likely violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The orders are part of Trump's larger efforts to eradicate DEI initiatives, which he and other critics say are discriminatory, from the government and the private sector.
Abelson blocked Trump and several federal agencies from implementing the orders nationwide pending the outcome of a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore and three groups.
"As Plaintiffs put it, 'efforts to foster inclusion have been widespread and uncontroversially legal for decades,'" wrote Abelson. "Plaintiffs' irreparable harms include widespread chilling of unquestionably protected speech."
It was not immediately clear how Abelson's decision may apply to actions already taken by the Trump administration, including shuttering DEI offices at many agencies and firing staff involved in diversity programs.
Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff and a vocal critic of diversity initiatives, said in a post on X that DEI programs are illegal race-based discrimination prohibited by the Civil Rights Act.
"A judge cannot nullify the Civil Rights Act and order the government to award federal taxpayer dollars to organizations that discriminate based on race," Miller said.
Democracy Forward, a left-leaning group representing the plaintiffs, welcomed the decision. President Skye Perryman said Trump's orders on DEI violate the Constitution and illegally intrude "on speech, ideas, and expression."
DEI policies became more widespread after nationwide protests in 2020 against police killings of unarmed Black people, spurring a conservative backlash that culminated in Trump issuing his orders after taking office last month.
Civil rights and pro-equality groups argue the programs are necessary to correct discrimination in a country where women and African Americans did not achieve legal equality until the 20th century and continue to lag behind their white male counterparts in pay and opportunity.
Along with directing federal agencies to eliminate diversity programs, Trump also barred federal contractors, which include many of the largest U.S. companies, from having them. And he told the Justice Department and other agencies to identify businesses, schools, and nonprofits that may be unlawfully discriminating through DEI policies.
Baltimore and the groups that sued claimed Trump lacked the power to issue the orders, which they said improperly targeted constitutionally protected free speech.
The Trump administration countered that the orders do not ban or discourage any speech but were targeted at unlawful discrimination.
Abelson on Feb. 21 said the orders, and the definition of DEI, are so vague that it was not possible for the plaintiffs to determine how Trump's directives applied to their programs.
"Plaintiffs have adequately shown that their speech has been and will continue to be chilled in light of the challenged orders based both on actions currently being taken by Defendants and based on Plaintiffs' reasonable fears," wrote Abelson, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden.
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