Federal Judge Refuses to Block Trump’s DEI Order for Government Contractors

A federal judge in Maryland on Wednesday declined to block President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs at companies that do business with the federal government, rejecting a bid by university faculty and minority business groups to freeze the order while their lawsuit proceeds.

U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore ruled that the groups had not shown that the March order was so broad it had to be halted before trial. The order bars federal contractors from engaging in “racially discriminatory DEI activities” and requires them to certify in writing that they are in compliance. Companies that do not comply could lose contracts and be investigated under the federal False Claims Act.

Abelson, an appointee of President Joe Biden, wrote that the order’s definition of unlawful conduct was narrower than the plaintiffs claimed. “The Contractors Order only prohibits contractors from engaging in conduct that is already prohibited by federal law: intentional discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity,” he wrote, according to Reuters.

Two lawsuits, one court

The case, filed in April, was brought by Democracy Forward, a progressive legal group. It is one of two suits challenging the order in the same court. Nineteen Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., filed a separate case seeking to stop federal agencies from rewriting contracts to carry out the order. Democracy Forward and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Many of the country’s largest employers are federal contractors, from defense and technology firms to food service and logistics companies, and some depend on government work for most of their revenue.

Part of a wider campaign against DEI

The order is one piece of a broader administration push against DEI. Trump has also banned DEI programs at federal agencies and repealed a 1965 executive order that required federal contractors to take affirmative action to hire minorities and women.

The plaintiffs argue in their suit that the order wrongly presumes all DEI amounts to illegal racial discrimination and reaches speech protected by the Constitution, according to Reuters. Trump and many conservatives counter that DEI programs are anti-merit and discriminate against groups such as white people and men, while groups defending the programs say they help address historic inequities for women, LGBTQ people and ethnic minorities.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.