In yet another case of activist judges undermining the will of the American people, a Biden-appointed federal judge has issued a sweeping injunction blocking President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at ending taxpayer-funded diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) schemes.
U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson, a left-wing operative placed on the bench by Joe Biden, ruled on Friday that the Trump administration cannot immediately revoke federal contracts and grants that promote divisive DEI initiatives, claiming such actions may violate “free speech rights,” according to far-left AP.
In other words, the judge believes that forcing taxpayers to fund radical leftist ideology is a constitutional right.
On his first day back in office, President Trump moved swiftly to dismantle the race-obsessed, Marxist bureaucracy embedded within the federal government by issuing executive orders that directed agencies to eliminate DEI-related funding and contracts.
He further required federal contractors to certify that they do not promote discriminatory DEI policies, a move that sent leftist institutions into a panic.
The City of Baltimore, along with a coalition of liberal academia and DEI profiteers, rushed to sue the Trump administration, desperately trying to keep the federal gravy train flowing.
The lawsuit whines that Trump’s orders will cause “irreparable harm” to DEI bureaucrats and the institutions that rely on billions in taxpayer funding to push radical race and gender policies.
According to the plaintiffs’ brief, these orders are already having a chilling effect on speech, leading institutions to cancel DEI programs for fear of losing federal funds. In reality, these institutions are merely being forced to follow existing anti-discrimination laws—something they should have been doing all along.
The lawsuit even goes as far as to defend race-based hiring practices and preferential treatment, arguing that institutions will be forced to censor themselves to comply with the executive orders.
It’s a bizarre argument, considering that DEI initiatives have long sought to police speech and enforce ideological conformity within academia, corporate America, and government agencies.
Reuters reported:
Abelson blocked Trump and several federal agencies from implementing the orders nationwide pending the outcome of a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore and three groups.
“As Plaintiffs put it, ‘efforts to foster inclusion have been widespread and uncontroversially legal for decades,’” wrote Abelson. “Plaintiffs’ irreparable harms include widespread chilling of unquestionably protected speech.”
It was not immediately clear how Abelson’s decision may apply to actions already taken by the Trump administration, including shuttering DEI offices at many agencies and firing staff involved in diversity programs.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Democracy Forward, a left-leaning group representing the plaintiffs, welcomed the decision. President Skye Perryman said Trump’s orders on DEI violate the Constitution and illegally intrude “on speech, ideas, and expression.”
