Appeals court strikes down ruling that blocked Trump’s anti-DEI orders:
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that President Trump’s executive orders eliminating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives among government agencies and contractors can go into effect.
A three-judge panel on the Richmond, Va.-based Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously found that Maryland federal judge Adam B. Abelson erred in granting a preliminary injunction blocking the order.
Chief Judge Albert Diaz, Judge Pamela A. Harris and Judge Allison Jones Rushing all concurred that Trump “may determine his policy priorities and instruct his agents to make funding decisions based on them.”
“President Trump has decided that equity isn’t a priority in his administration and so has directed his subordinates to terminate funding that supports equity-related projects to the maximum extent allowed by law,” wrote Diaz, appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama.
“Whether that’s sound policy or not isn’t our call. We ask only whether the policy is unconstitutionally vague for funding recipients.”
Abelson had initially granted a nationwide injunction, which was batted down in March 2025 by the same judges, and later a preliminary injunction, which is now vacated.
Baltimore’s mayor and city council, the American Association of University Professors and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education sued the Trump administration, claiming the order violated provisions of the Constitution’s First and Fifth Amendments. --->READ MORE HERE
4th Circuit Vacates Lower Court Blockade On Trump’s Elimination Of DEI Grants:
A federal appellate court handed President Trump a major victory on Friday by shutting down a lower court blockade on his efforts to eliminate racist DEI programs in federal contracting.
In its unanimous decision, a three-judge panel for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a preliminary injunction issued by Maryland District Judge Adam Abelson last year. As The Federalist has reported, Abelson is a Biden appointee and Democrat donor who previously worked at a law firm stacked with Democrat partisans and lawyers involved in anti-Trump lawfare.
Abelson’s injunction attempted to prohibit enforcement of provisions included in two executive orders that Trump signed shortly after taking office. Those directives instructed executive agencies to terminate federal contracts and grants for DEI-related programs.
Writing for the three-judge panel, Chief Circuit Judge Albert Diaz, an Obama appointee, ruled that plaintiffs specifically “lack standing to challenge” the “Enforcement Threat Provision” in one of Trump’s contested orders. He and his colleagues furthermore determined that challengers “haven’t sufficiently alleged an injury-in-fact.”
“They claim that they fear retribution by defendants and that they’ll be forced to restrict ‘their speech and conduct in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion’ or face penalties. … But these allegations overstate the Enforcement Threat Provision’s text,” Diaz wrote.
The court ruled that, while plaintiffs had standing to challenge the other provisions in question, they were “unlikely to succeed” on the merits. When addressing plaintiffs’ challenges to the “Termination Provision,” which “requires that all executive agencies terminate equity-related grants or contracts,” Diaz went on to acknowledge that, as president, Trump “may determine his policy priorities and instruct his agents to make funding decisions based on them.” In this instance, he noted, the president “has decided that equity isn’t a priority in his administration and so has directed his subordinates to terminate funding that supports equity-related projects to the maximum extent allowed by law.” --->READ MORE HERE
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