Dive brief:
- Plaintiffs involved in a lawsuit against President Donald Trump have asked a Maryland judge to block his executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion activities among federal contractors (National Association of Higher Education Diversity Officers v. Trump).
- The coalition, which filed a lawsuit against Trump on April 20argued that the order will cause irreparable harm if the court does not grant a preliminary injunction. “The administration has put federal contractors in an impossible bind: waive your freedoms of expression and association or waive doing business, either directly or indirectly, with the government,” he said in a court filing filed Thursday.
- The plaintiffs argued that they are likely to succeed on the merits that the order violates the 1st and 5th Amendments as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.
Diving knowledge:
This case is represented by Democracy Forward and led by the National Association of Higher Education Diversity Officers, groups that are not new to taking legal action against the Trump administration for actions aimed at suppressing DEI.
NADOHE also sued Trump finished two executive orders from January 2025 addressed to DEI of the public and private sector. While a Maryland judge granted a preliminary injunction in that case in February 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit reversed that decision last February, it ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge a provision ordering agency heads to prepare a report working to combat “illegal” DEI programs.
Trump’s Executive order of March 26 directed executive departments and agencies to include a clause in federal contracts and subcontracts requiring such partners to agree that they “will not engage in any racially discriminatory DEI activity” or risk termination of their contracts. Agency officials have until July 24 to ensure compliance with the order.
“At its core, the executive order is a gag rule dressed up as a contract clause,” Sarah von der Lippe, a lawyer involved in the case, said in a Democracy Now press release from April. “Require minority-owned businesses to trade their First Amendment right to speak out about race and discrimination for fair access to federal contracts.”
Other plaintiffs in the case are the American Association of University Professors; the United Academics of Maryland-University of Maryland, College Park; the National Association of Minority Contractors; and the NAMC Chapter, District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia.
