❓WHAT HAPPENED: A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit cleared the way for the Trump administration to move forward with plans to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs within the federal contracting and grant processes.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Chief Circuit Judge Albert Diaz, the City of Baltimore, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE), U.S. District Court Judge Adam B. Abelson, President Donald J. Trump, and federal department heads.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The ruling was issued on Friday, February 6, 2026, after a nearly year-long legal battle.
💬KEY QUOTE: “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. Whether that’s sound policy or not isn’t our call.” — Fourth Circuit panel
🎯IMPACT: President Trump’s plans to end DEI requirements and programs for federal contractors and grant recipients have been in limbo since last February, when Joe Biden-appointed U.S. District Court Judge Adam B. Abelson issued an injunction against the administration.
A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit cleared the way for the Trump administration to move forward with plans to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs within the federal contracting and grant processes, vacating a district court injunction blocking the changes. In the unanimous ruling issued on Friday, the Fourth Circuit panel determined that the plaintiffs failed to establish their claim that two Executive Orders signed by President Donald J. Trump in January 2025, which ended federal support for DEI programs, violated their First Amendment free speech rights.
U.S. Chief Circuit Judge Albert Diaz, an Obama appointee, authored the court’s opinion, writing, “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. Whether that’s sound policy or not isn’t our call. We ask only whether the policy is unconstitutionally vague for funding recipients.”
Notably, the court found that because President Trump‘s Executive Orders were directives issued to his Cabinet and did not attempt to govern the private conduct of federal grant recipients, the directives had no impact on the free speech rights of the plaintiffs. The Fourth Circuit panel admonished the plaintiffs and the lower court ruling, writing, “What plaintiffs are really asking us to do is read subtext into the Provision’s text. And what they’re really challenging is how the Administration and its agency actors interpret antidiscrimination law in relation to plaintiffs’ DEI programming.”
The Trump administration’s plans to end DEI requirements and programs for federal contractors and grant recipients have been in limbo since last February, when the City of Baltimore—joined by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE)—filed a lawsuit against the directives in Maryland federal court. Subsequently, U.S. District Court Judge Adam B. Abelson, appointed by former President Joe Biden, issued an injunction against the administration, preventing Trump’s Executive Orders from going into effect. In his ruling, Judge Abelson specifically found that President Trump’s detectives likely violated the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.
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