Judge blocks Trump's Labor Department from requiring grant recipients to abandon DEI

(This March 27 story has been refiled to remove a broken hyperlink in paragraph 8)

By Luc Cohen

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday temporarily allowed Labor Department grant recipients to continue their diversity, equity and inclusion programs, but the judge allowed the Trump administration to bar most "equity-related grants."

The order by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago will prevent the Labor Department from requiring grantees to certify that they do not operate DEI programs that violate anti-discrimination laws for two weeks, while he considers a longer-lasting injunction against the measure. 

The decision by Kennelly, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, was a partial win for Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT), a nonprofit organization that receives federal funds to train women for jobs like carpentry, welding and plumbing. 

The judge agreed with CWIT's argument that the requirement that grant recipients certify they do not operate any DEI programs, even if those programs are unrelated to their federal contracts, violated their free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. 

"The impact of this provision on CWIT and other grantees is likely to result in self-censorship," Kennelly wrote. 

Kennelly also barred the Labor Department from cutting off any grants to CWIT on the basis of Republican President Donald Trump's January 21 executive order instructing federal agencies to terminate "equity-related grants." 

That portion of Kennelly's order was limited to CWIT. The judge said nationwide orders are appropriate only in rare circumstances because they can encourage plaintiffs to seek out favorable jurisdictions to bring their cases.  

The Trump administration and other Republican officials have said that nationwide orders from judges improperly limit the president's powers.

Neither the Labor Department nor the Justice Department immediately responded to requests for comment. 

The case is one of several challenges to Trump's larger efforts to eradicate DEI initiatives, which he and other critics say are discriminatory, from the government and the private sector.

Earlier this month, a federal appeals court said the Trump administration could temporarily ban DEI programs at federal agencies and businesses with government contracts, which had been blocked by a lower court. 

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)