D.C. Judge Allows Trump DEI Orders Blocked by Other Courts (1)

The Trump administration can for now enforce a suite of executive orders aimed at rooting out federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and cutting transgender protections, a D.C. judge ruled.

Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday denied a preliminary injunction to pause enforcement of three of President Donald Trump’s executive orders, as he said the plaintiffs don’t seem likely to succeed on claims that the orders violate their free speech and due process rights.

Kelly’s decision is a blow to the civil rights groups suing to prevent the enforcement of Trump’s orders on constitutional grounds, adding to the conflicting rulings over the orders in separate challenges.

“For one reason or another, Plaintiffs’ claims are likely to fail. Some falter on standing—a prerequisite to success on the merits—and others on the underlying First and Fifth Amendment claims,” Kelly wrote.

The National Urban League, National Fair Housing Alliance, and AIDS Foundation of Chicago sued the Trump administration Feb. 19, claiming infringements of the First and Fifth Amendments.

In addition to ending federal DEI programs, one of the challenged orders directs the government to recognize only “two sexes” and cut protections for transgender and gender non-conforming Americans. Another got rid of the Department of Labor’s diversity and pay reporting obligations for federal contractors.

In denying the preliminary injunction, Kelly said the groups did not establish how they would be harmed by the president’s orders or establish how they would succeed on their Fifth and First Amendment claims.

The court reserves judgment on any challenges to specific enforcement actions that the groups may bring forward, Kelly wrote in his opinion.

A Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals panel on March 14 granted the Trump administration’s request for a stay of an injunction placed on two of the DEI orders in February by a federal judge in Baltimore in a lawsuit brought by groups representing college diversity officers, university professors, and restaurant workers, along with city officials from Baltimore.

On Thursday, the federal judge who issued the preliminary injunction declined to vacate his initial ruling after the groups representing the diversity officers sought to pursue different relief.

The case is National Urban League v. Trump, D.D.C., 1:25-cv-00471, preliminary injunction 5/2/25.