Seattle Sues to Block Trump’s Anti-DEI, ‘Two Sexes’ Orders (1)

Seattle challenged President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting DEI programs and transgender rights, arguing the policies unconstitutionally threaten federal funding to the city.

The lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Western District of Washington echoes a string of legal challenges to Trump’s executive actions in contending the orders overstep the president’s authority and impose overly vague mandates on recipients of federal money.

The city “risks losing committed federal grants and contracts if it does not abide by newly and improperly imposed (and impossibly vague) funding conditions, and faces unjustified False Claims Act investigations and lawsuits,” according to the complaint.

The litigation seeks to block portions of an executive order aimed at reining in diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, as well as an order declaring a federal policy of recognizing only two sexes, not transgender or nonbinary identities. Among the orders’ requirements, recipients of federal funds must certify they don’t operate any illegal or discriminatory DEI programs, under threat of prosecution if the federal government deems that certification false.

Challengers ranging from civil rights and LGBTQ+ advocates to higher education groups have sued in multiple federal courts, in some cases winning injunctions to block portions of those federal policies. Among them, a Maryland federal court issued a broad, nationwide injunction of the DEI orders that has been stayed pending appeal at the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Like many of the lawsuits against Trump’s executive orders, the Seattle case claims the directives are unconstitutionally vague under the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause. Seattle also accuses Trump and the federal agencies tasked with implementing the orders of violating the Constitution’s separation of powers, spending clause, and Tenth Amendment, along with the Administrative Procedure Act.

The orders threaten federal funding “needed to support critical local programs and services, including major counterterrorism, emergency response, safety, transportation, and housing projects,” the city said in its complaint.

Corr Cronin LLP and the Seattle city attorney’s office represent the city.

The White House and Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is City of Seattle v. Trump, W.D. Wash., No. 2:25-cv-01435, 7/31/25.