US court allows Trump to enforce ban on DEI programs, for now

By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Friday said the Trump administration could temporarily implement a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at federal agencies and businesses with government contracts, which had been blocked by a judge.

The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the directives by President Donald Trump, including an order urging the Department of Justice to investigate companies with DEI policies, were likely constitutional, disagreeing with a February ruling by a federal judge in Maryland.

But two of the three judges on the 4th Circuit panel wrote separately they did not agree with the substance of Trump's orders and that agencies that implement them may risk violating the U.S. Constitution.

"Despite the vitriol now being heaped on DEI, people of good faith who work to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion deserve praise, not opprobrium," Circuit Judge Albert Diaz wrote.

Circuit Judge Allison Rushing, a Trump appointee, responded that her colleagues' policy views were irrelevant to whether Trump's directives should stand.

"A judge’s opinion that DEI programs 'deserve praise, not opprobrium' should play absolutely no part in deciding this case," Rushing wrote.

The decision, in a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore and three groups, will remain in place pending the outcome of the Trump administration's appeal, which could take months.

The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Democracy Forward, a left-leaning group representing the plaintiffs, said the decision was being reviewed.

The orders are part of Trump's larger efforts to eradicate DEI initiatives, which he and other critics say are discriminatory, from the government and the private sector.

U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore had blocked Trump and several federal agencies from implementing the orders nationwide pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

Along with directing federal agencies to eliminate diversity programs, Trump also barred federal contractors, which include many of the largest U.S. companies, from having them.

He also told the Justice Department and other agencies to identify businesses, schools and nonprofits that may be unlawfully discriminating through DEI policies.

Baltimore and the groups that sued claimed Trump lacked the power to issue the orders, which they said improperly targeted constitutionally protected free speech.

The Trump administration has maintained that the orders do not ban or discourage any speech but were targeted at unlawful discrimination.

The plaintiffs this week had accused the Trump administration of defying the ruling by continuing to condition some federal contracts on recipients agreeing not to implement DEI programs.

Abelson held a hearing on the matter on Friday but did not issue any further ruling.

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sam Holmes)