A federal district judge in Maryland preliminarily blocked several challenged provisions of President Donald Trump’s executive orders (EOs) on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), including enforcement of provisions applying to private companies. Certification and termination provisions for federal contractors also were paused in the Feb. 21 decision (National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-00333). The ruling is a nationwide injunction.
Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim that the enforcement threat provision in the Jan. 21 EO, titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” violates the First Amendment. The provision “threatens to initiate enforcement actions against the plaintiffs (in the form of civil compliance investigations) for engaging in protected speech,” U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson said.
The enforcement threat provision applies broadly to the private sector. Therefore, unlike with the other provisions, the analysis is based on pure private speech regulated by the First Amendment, as opposed to the speech of federal contractors or grantees, according to Abelson.
“Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the enforcement threat provision, which threatens to bring enforcement against perceived violators of undefined standards, is, on its face, an unlawful viewpoint-based restriction on protected speech,” he said. “That is textbook...
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