In January, the Trump Administration issued executive orders attacking diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility policies throughout government and the private sector. These anti-DEIA EOs are racist, sexist, classist, and ableist policies that threaten all equity-related grants and contracts funded by the federal government. In response, the City of Baltimore, MD and other plaintiffs sued the Trump Administration (National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NAHODE) v. Trump), arguing that the anti-DEIA EOs violate core Constitutional rights and separation-of-powers principles.
In a major win, a federal district court in Maryland issued a preliminary nationwide injunction on February 21 blocking the anti-DEIA EOs – protecting localities and other federal funding recipients from these baseless, discriminatory threats. The court found that the EOs likely violate the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and the separation of powers.
Trump’s EOs are intended to coerce localities and school districts into complying with an illegal, immoral, and unpopular agenda. We will do our best to share with you the current state of the law and how best to protect your communities using your authorities. Please reach out to helpdesk@localprogress.org if you have any questions. Please also let us know if any federal funds have been paused to your jurisdictions. We can provide legal, policy and strategy support.
📝 Background: Trump’s Anti-Equity Executive Orders
On January 20th and 21st, the Trump Administration issued executive orders that directed:
- All executive branch agencies to “terminate . . . ‘equity-related’ grants or contracts;”
- All executive branch agencies to include in every grant award or contract a certification that the contractor or grantee “does not operate any programs promoting DEI” upon penalty of civil prosecution under the False Claims Act”;
- The Attorney General to take “appropriate measures to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI,” to “deter” such “programs or principles,” and to “identify . . . potential civil compliance investigations” to accomplish that deterrence.”
Federal agencies immediately set to work implementing the EOs, firing staff, pausing programs, and threatening to cancel, and actually cancelling, federal funds and contracts the Administration deemed “equity-related.”
📍 Impacts: Baltimore, MD
By illegally threatening federal grantees and contractors around the country—including local governments—the anti-DEIA EOs have already caused serious damage. The federal government has begun to freeze or even terminate grants and contracts, affecting local programs and services, and localities have been caught in a Catch-22: either self-censor and eliminate commitments to DEIA, or suffer funding cuts that will drain vital services that communities depend upon.
The City of Baltimore, MD, one of the plaintiffs in NAHODE v. Trump, is a federal grantee and contractor. As a majority-Black city whose “diversity . . . is its strength,” Baltimore has been targeted by Trump’s anti-DEIA orders. Soon after the EOs were issued, Baltimore received a letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that demanded the city “immediately terminate” all activities “promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion” that were funded by an award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Baltimore also received an email from AmeriCorps informing it that several AmeriCorps grants had been flagged for review because they contained words like “Diversity,” “Equity,” “Equity Action Plan,” and “DEI” as well as “Environmental Justice” and “Climate Change.” The AmeriCorps email demanded that Baltimore either (1) certify that its grant awards did not run afoul of the anti-DEIA orders and risk prosecution under the False Claims Act, (2) stop providing “noncompliant” services under the awards, or (3) totally abandon the AmeriCorps funding.
‼️ What does this order mean for LP members and why is it important?
This order means that local governments and school districts that receive federal grants or contracts (1) cannot have their grants or contracts terminated due to the anti-DEIA EOs and (2) cannot be required to certify that they are not promoting DEIA upon penalty of prosecution.
In doing so, the order slows down Trump’s authoritarian assault on racial and economic justice, individual Constitutional rights, and critical checks-and-balances on executive power.
The order is also “nationwide,” meaning it applies to groups that are not parties to the case—including the entirety of the federal government and all federal grantees and contractors.
📣 Action Items: Keep Pursuing Justice and Publicize Illegal Threats to Funding
Localities with federal grants and contracts should continue to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion policies without fear. The Trump Administration’s threats are unconstitutional and immoral, and we’re on the right side of the law.
It is critical that local elected officials push back on and publicize any unlawful federal attempts to threaten funding to localities, whether for anti-equity reasons or otherwise.
Please reach out to us at helpdesk@localprogress.org to share what’s happening in your jurisdictions or if you have any questions.
Photo retrieved from The Guardian
