Judge blocks Trump administration from terminating DEI-related grants
The judge found the administration's mandate that grant recipients not engage in "equity-related" programs was too broad.
A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from terminating federal grants and contracts related to DEI as called for in executive orders signed by President Donald Trump.
The ruling bars the administration from requiring federal contractors and grant recipients to certify that they do not engage in any “equity-related” programs, a term the court found too vague to be enforced.
“Plaintiffs have amply established a likelihood that they will succeed in proving that the Termination Provision invites arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement over billions of dollars in government funding,” U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Maryland ruled.
“The possibilities are almost endless, and many are pernicious,” Abelson continued. “If an elementary school receives Department of Education funding for technology access, and a teacher uses a computer to teach the history of Jim Crow laws, does that risk the grant being deemed 'equity-related' and the school being stripped of funding?"
The court ruling also prohibits the Justice Department from bringing any enforcement actions against contractors and grant recipients that have such programs.
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