Judge blocks part of Trump’s DEI order

President Donald Trump has made significant moves to rid the government of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, known as DEI, but a judge has blocked a part of his effort that pertains to contractors.

Trump signed a first-day executive order terminating all federal DEI mandates, policies and programs. 

Trump's promise to revoke federal DEI initiatives is one of 75 promises he made that PolitiFact is tracking on the MAGA-Meter. Over the next four years, we will periodically evaluate the new administration's progress on Trump's 2024 campaign promises, just as we did with Barack Obama, Trump during his first term and Joe Biden.

U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson issued a preliminary injunction Feb. 21 to the part of Trump's order to terminate federal grants or contracts the administration views as "equity-related." Abelson said the order was vague and that people and organizations have no reasonable way to know what they can do to bring their grants into compliance.

Abelson, a Maryland judge nominated by former President Joe Biden, cited some examples of the order's vagueness, including this: "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?"

Legal organization Democracy Forward, which has frequently challenged the Trump administration, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, American Association of University Professors, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and the city of Baltimore.

Trump's administration appealed Feb. 24.

Before that, he overstated his order's effect.

"I've ended all of the so-called diversity equity and inclusion programs across the entire federal government and the private sector, and notified every single government DEI officer that their job has been deleted," Trump said in a Feb. 22 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. "They're gone. They're fired."

Trump can't end DEI in the private sector, but he can influence corporate leaders' decisions. Many private companies, including Target and Walmart, have scaled back their DEI efforts since Trump took office. Costco has defended its diversity policies, and Apple shareholders rejected a proposal Feb. 25 to scrap its DEI program.

The New York Times reported that as of Feb. 21, at least 280 federal DEI workers were put on leave while a handful had been fired. 

We will continue to monitor the litigation and Trump's efforts. For now, this promise remains rated In the Works.