'Important victory' for free speech as judge rules against Trumphttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/important-victory-for-free-speech-as-judge-rules-against-trump/ar-AA1MZGIQ?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=7a5da1fcdc1b4fc8b0c73959566083c0&ei=9Jon Queally (21 Sep 2025)
In another judicial rebuke to President Donald Trump's effort to harm funding for the nation's arts, a federal judge on Friday evening ruled against the president's insider attack on the National Endowment for the Arts by blocking grant applications from artists or organizations that don't strictly adhere to the president's right-wing ideology on gender.
Ruling in favor of several arts organizations that sued the NEA earlier this year over the policy change, US District Court Judge William E. Smith, appointed by President George W. Bush and serving in Rhode Island, said the grant restrictions ran afoul of federal statute and the US Constitution.
In his ruling, Williams called the policy that came out of Trump's edict both "arbitrary and capricious," one that violated not only free speech protections but also the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which governs the EPA grant-making process.
Smith held that the NEA's grant application review process "violates the First Amendment because it is a viewpoint-based restriction on private speech."
Specifically, the judge said the government's policy "offered zero explanation" to applicants "of what it means for a project to 'promote gender ideology,' let alone how that concept relates to artistic merit, artistic excellence, general standards of decency, or respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public."
"The NEA intends to disfavor applications that promote gender ideology precisely because they promote gender ideology," Smith stated in his judicial order. "The Final Notice therefore promises to penalize artists based on their speech."
