Judge blocks administration from enforcing anti-diversity and anti-transgender executive ordersThe federal judge said the federal government can't force recipients to halt programs that promote DEI or acknowledge the existence of transgender people to receive grant money.
Link to Full ArticleNBC News - By The Associated Press
June 9, 2025, 3:39 PM MDT
A federal judge in California has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing anti-diversity and anti-transgender executive orders in grant funding requirements that LGBTQ+ organizations say are unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar said Monday that the federal government cannot force recipients to halt programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion or acknowledge the existence of transgender people in order to receive grant funding.
The funding provisions "reflect an effort to censor constitutionally protected speech and services promoting DEI and recognizing the existence of transgender individuals," Tigar wrote.
He went on to say that the executive branch must still be bound by the Constitution in shaping its agenda and that even in the context of federal subsidies, "it cannot weaponize Congressionally appropriated funds to single out protected communities for disfavored treatment or suppress ideas that it does not like or has deemed dangerous."
Lawyers for the government say that the president is permitted to "align government funding and enforcement strategies" with his policies.
Plaintiffs say that Congress — and not the president — has the power to condition how federal funds are used, and that the executive orders restrict free speech rights.-------------------------
