US judge blocks Trump's bid to ban DEI by federal agencies, contractors

A federal judge in Maryland on Friday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from implementing bans on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at federal agencies and by businesses that contract with the federal government.

US 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 US 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.

The White House, the office of Democratic Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and the groups involved in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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 includes many of the largest US 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 and that they 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 Friday 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.