Trump Ignoring Judge’s Anti-DEI Order Pause, Challengers Say (1)

The Trump administration is threatening funding for federal grantees who don’t comply with anti-DEI executive orders, defying a federal court order that partially blocked enforcement of the president’s directives, a group of challengers said.

Federal agencies have notified grant recipients that their funding is contingent on them certifying they don’t operate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that violate federal anti-discrimination laws, according to a March 13 filing to the US District Court for the District of Maryland from groups suing over the executive orders. They contended these notices run afoul of the injunction Judge Adam B. Abelson issued on Feb. 21.

They cited a March 12 letter from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development sent to the City of San Francisco regarding a $481,107 grant agreement and similar language in a contract the City of Baltimore was asked to sign to continue receiving funds for services to homeless populations.

The plaintiffs also pointed to reporting by Rolling Stone, which quoted sources as saying federal officials are telling agency staff to enforce Trump’s orders and ignore the court’s injunction.

“There does seem to be a widespread problem,” said Ananda Burra, attorney at Democracy Forward representing the plaintiffs, during a Friday afternoon emergency hearing to address the claims. “Agencies are just cutting and pasting the language that you enjoined and plugging it into contracts, not using the words executive orders.”

Abelson said he would set a schedule for further briefing and possibly another hearing either March 21 or 28 on the issue.

The case—brought by the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, and Baltimore city officials—is one of at least three federal lawsuits broadly challenging the constitutionality of Trump’s anti-DEI orders.

The Trump administration appealed the injunction to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

The government is investigating the allegations that it has violated the injunction, Justice Department attorneys said during the Friday court hearing and in a court filing earlier the same day to the Fourth Circuit. The allegations focus on federal agencies that weren’t named as defendants in the lawsuit, they noted, namely HUD, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the State Department.

“The plaintiffs are treating this as if the government is one unified whole in the abstract,” Justice Department attorney Pardis Gheibi said at the Friday hearing. It takes time for compliance efforts to spread through hundreds of federal agencies, offices, and divisions, she said.

HUD has been working to change its contract templates and come into compliance since March 10, when Abelson clarified the scope of his injunction to cover all federal agencies, even those not specifically named as defendants.

Challengers to Trump’s policies have claimed his administration violated court orders in at least two other instances, one related to a federal funding freeze and another related to gender-related medical care for youths.

In response to the plaintiffs’ claim that the Trump administration violated the injunction, the White House defended its efforts to oppose DEI.

“Protecting the civil rights and expanding opportunities for all Americans is a key priority of the Trump Administration, which is why he took decisive actions to terminate unlawful DEI preferences in the federal government,” spokesperson Harrison Fields said in an email.

The case is Nat’l Assoc. of Diversity Officers in Higher Ed. v. Trump, D. Md., No. 1:25-cv-00333, motion for emergency status conference 3/13/25