OAN Staff Abril Elfi
10:20 AM – Saturday, February 22, 2025
A federal judge has temporarily blocked parts of President Donald Trump’s executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
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On Friday, U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson, a former President Biden appointee, granted a preliminary injunction that blocks elements of Trump’s orders that attempt to terminate government funding for DEI-related activities, as well as the Trump administration’s cancellation of contracts that they believe promote DEI.
Abelson 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.
The ruling comes after the city of Baltimore, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors, and Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, sued the Trump administration over the executive orders, claiming they were 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 continued arguing that Trump was cutting in on Congress’ powers in order to promote 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.”
On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order urging federal agencies to terminate any “equity-related” grants or contracts. He issued a follow-up order requiring federal contractors to attest that they do not support DEI.
The Trump administration claimed in a Wednesday hearing that the president was merely prohibiting DEI projects 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.
On Wednesday, a second federal complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, aimed against Trump’s DEI executive orders. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Lambda Legal filed the latest complaint on behalf of the nonprofit advocacy organizations.
The second lawsuit is aimed at Trump’s executive orders which include, “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.”
White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in a statement to the New York Times that both lawsuits represented “nothing more than an extension of the left’s resistance,” adding that the administration was “ready to face them in court.”
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