Anti-DEI UC Research Grant Cuts Are Likely Unconstitutional (1)

The Trump administration must maintain a pause on its proposed cuts to federal grants going to University of California researchers based on executive orders meant to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said the DEI-based grant terminations were likely in violation of the First Amendment because the cuts were aimed at suppressing viewpoints the government disagrees with.

But the panel reversed a portion of the lower court’s preliminary injunction that blocked the administration’s research grant terminations that were delivered by form ...