US judge blocks Trump bid to ban DEI by federal agencies and contractors
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A protester holds a sign at a rally protesting the “anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration”.
PHOTO: AFP
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ANNAPOLIS, Maryland – A federal judge in Maryland has temporarily blocked US President Donald Trump from implementing bans on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes
US District Judge Adam Abelson said the directives by Mr Trump and an order urging the Department of Justice to investigate companies with DEI policies likely violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
The orders are part of Mr Trump’s larger efforts to eradicate DEI initiatives, which he and other critics say are discriminatory, from the government and the private sector.
Judge Abelson blocked Mr 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 Judge Abelson. “Plaintiffs’ irreparable harms include widespread chilling of unquestionably protected speech.”
It was not immediately clear how Judge 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 programmes.
Opposing sides
Mr Stephen Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff and a vocal critic of diversity initiatives, said in a post on X that DEI programmes 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 organisations that discriminate based on race,” Mr Miller said.
Democracy Forward, a left-leaning group representing the plaintiffs, welcomed the decision.
Mr Skye Perryman, the group’s president, said Mr 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 Mr Trump issuing his orders after taking office in January.
Civil rights and pro-equality groups argue the programmes are necessary to correct discrimination in a country where women and black people did not achieve legal equality until the 20th century and continue to lag behind their white male counterparts in pay and opportunity.
‘Unlawful discrimination’
Along with directing federal agencies to eliminate diversity programmes, Mr Trump also barred federal contractors, which include many of the largest US companies, from having them.
He also 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 Mr 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.
Judge 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 Mr Trump’s directives applied to their programmes.
“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 Judge Abelson, an appointee of Democratic former president Joe Biden. REUTERS
