BALTIMORE — A unanimous federal court of appeals has officially vacated a Maryland District judge's ruling last year attempting to halt President Donald Trump's executive orders terminating grant funding for non-government-organizations (NGOs) that outwardly implement Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
In February 2025 Baltimore City and a host of other organizations sued Trump over a pair of executive orders they claim violate federal anti-discrimination laws.
The White House pushed back arguing DEI itself violates such laws, hence why the executive orders were issued.
Specifically, Trump ordered federal agency heads to terminate all equity based action plans, initiatives, programs, grants, and contracts "to the maximum extent allowed by law."
The White House did so in order to revoke Joe Biden era orders forcing federal agencies to submit “Equity Action Plans,” which the Trump Administration says "demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination."
Although the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals previously prevented the District judge's injunction from going into effect during ongoing litigation, this latest ruling fully overturns the lower court's opinion.
Judge Albert Diaz, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, wrote this in the Appeals Court ruling in favor of Trump.
"The President may determine his policy priorities and instruct his agents to make funding decisions based on them. President Trump has decided that equity isn’t a priority in his administration and so has directed his subordinates to terminate funding that supports equity-related projects to the maximum extent allowed by law.”
