U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to rid the federal government and corporations of programs that promote inclusive hiring practices hit a roadblock Friday evening when a federal judge in Maryland granted a preliminary injunction blocking portions of Trump’s executive orders, saying they would “likely” be found to violate the First Amendment.
The ruling pertained to two executive orders the president issued in the first days of his second term in the White House, which directed federal agencies to end all “equity-related” contracts and required federal contractors to certify that they don’t promote “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) — frameworks used by companies, schools, and other organizations to ensure historically marginalized groups have opportunities and see their histories included in school curricula.
The latter provision, argued the coalition that sued over the orders in Maryland, suppresses the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
The term DEI has been invoked repeatedly by right-wing politicians who have blamed pro-diversity hiring practices for the deadly plane crash near Washington, D.C. late last month and the wildfires that devastated Los Angeles last month, and Trump’s billionaire backer and “special government employee” Elon Musk has called DEI “immoral” and “just another word for racism.”
Trump’s orders targeting DEI have already led to purges of federal workers while corporations including Google, Deloitte, and Target have announced an end to DEI programs and universities have faced the possibility of federal investigations into suspected DEI practices — which are designed to ensure the inclusion of military veterans, first-generation college students, women, people with disabilities, and people of color, among other groups.
U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson in the District of Maryland on Friday said Trump’s orders promote “textbook viewpoint-based discrimination.”
“The government’s threat of enforcement is not just targeted towards enforcement of federal law,” said the judge, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden. “Rather, the provision expressly targets, and threatens, the expression of views supportive of equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
The preliminary ruling was handed down in a case filed by advocacy group Democracy Forward on behalf of the American Association of University Professors, the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and the mayor and city council of Baltimore earlier this month.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement that the U.S. Constitution “protects all Americans—whether you are a university professor or a restaurant worker—from unlawful intrusion on speech, ideas, and expression and entitles all Americans to fair process. The Trump administration’s anti-equity directives violate these core protections.”
“We are grateful for the court’s decision to pause these harmful executive orders while it takes a careful look at how the orders blatantly violate our Constitution,” said Perryman. “As our complaint states, in the United States, there is no King.”
Paulette Granberry Russell, president and CEO of NADOHE, called the ruling “a crucial victory for higher education and academic freedom and also vindicates the legitimacy of the efforts by individuals, institutions, and organizations nationwide to foster inclusion in ways that have been uncontroversially legal for decades.”
“This ruling underscores that ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion are the very goals of federal anti-discrimination law, not a violation of the law,” said Russell. “NADOHE applauds the court for recognizing the irreparable harm of the Trump administration’s executive orders in abridging and chilling unquestionably protected speech and in threatening enforcement action based on unconstitutionally vague and undefined standards.”
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat, said Trump’s orders “are not only unconstitutional but also clearly oppose our country’s core values.”
“Our country prides itself on being a melting pot where everyone has equal opportunity to achieve and live the American Dream,” said Scott.
The mayor added that as the federal court continues to examine the case, the plaintiffs will fight Trump’s pro-discrimination efforts “with every legal tool available, as demonstrated by our ongoing lawsuit.”
“This executive order endangers critical federal funding for Baltimore and countless other communities, putting jobs and livelihoods at risk. Moreover, it seeks to establish a legal framework to attack anyone or any organization that dares to celebrate our diversity,” Scott continued. “Such actions are fundamentally un-American. We are a nation built on diversity, unity, and the belief that everyone deserves a fair chance.”
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