Appeals Court Overturns Block on Parts of Trump’s DEI Orders

The Trump administration can move forward with carrying out all provisions in the president’s executive orders that crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion, an appeals court ruled Friday. 

The order overturns a nationwide injunction issued last month by a Maryland district court. Judge Adam B. Abelson, who was appointed by former president Joe Biden, ruled that several provisions in the orders, such as the directive to terminate any “equity-related” grant or contract, ran afoul of the Constitution. 

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said in a 10-page opinion that the challenged orders, “on their face, are of distinctly limited scope,” in that they only target DEI programs that are illegal and violate federal antidiscrimination law. (The orders don’t define DEI or what would be an illegal activity, which is partly why Abelson blocked them.)

The three-judge panel did caution that the temporary stay of the injunction was not an endorsement of the executive orders, and that how the agencies enforce them will be a key issue to watch. 

“Agency enforcement actions that go beyond the orders’ narrow scope may well raise serious First Amendment and Due Process concerns, for the reasons cogently explained by the district court,” wrote Circuit Judge Pamela Harris in the opinion. Harris was nominated to the bench by former president Obama.

Harris noted that the lawsuit “is a difficult case that will benefit from more sustained attention.”

Chief Judge Albert Diaz, also an Obama appointee, concurred with Harris in his opinion and offered a word of support for DEI broadly.

“People of good faith who work to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion deserve praise, not opprobrium,” he wrote.

Ahead of the Fourth Circuit’s ruling, the plaintiffs who sued the Trump administration over the orders, including the American Association of University Professors and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, told the district judge that officials weren’t complying with the injunction. 

But Rolling Stone reported last week that the administration has continued to require federal contractors to certify that they aren’t operating “any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws”—a provision of the executive order that was initially blocked. 

“Trump administration officials have explicitly told staff and outside groups that they view the court order as irrelevant and that the ‘DEI’-crackdown contract language will remain,” according to Rolling Stone.

In the court filing, the plaintiffs said that they also weren’t “aware of any instances in which wrongfully cancelled grants or contracts have been reinstated.” 

For more updates on lawsuits related to the Trump administration, see the Inside Higher Ed tracker.