Trump-appointed judge rules against Education Department’s DEI crackdown

A Trump-appointed judge in Baltimore on Thursday blocked the Education Department from withholding billions of dollars in federal funding from public schools that continue to practice diversity inclusion initiatives — delivering a significant blow to the Trump administration’s anti-DEI initiatives, though it is almost certain to be appealed to higher courts for review.

At issue were two Education Department memos issued earlier this year that threatened to withhold combined billions of dollars of funding from schools who failed to wind down their DEI programs, a key issue for the department in Trump’s second term. Those efforts sparked a flurry of federal lawsuits and requests for emergency relief earlier this year. 

In a sharp, 76-page ruling  Thursday, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher said that that the Trump administration’s efforts to slash funding from educational institutions that kept in place with DEI initiatives ran afoul of the Administrative Procedures Act, and risked threatening free speech protections under the First Amendment.

“The administration is entitled to express its viewpoints and to promulgate policies aligned with those viewpoints,” Gallagher said. “But it must do so within the procedural bounds Congress has outlined. And it may not do so at the expense of constitutional rights.” 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WARNS THAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS MUST REMOVE DEI POLICIES OR LOSE FEDERAL FUNDING 

While the ruling itself is unlikely to change anything in the near-term, as the anti-DEI push in question had already been temporarily paused by several federal courts earlier this year, Gallagher’s ruling officially ruled that the Education Department’s efforts were illegal, and ordered the administration to reverse course. 

Trump officials are almost certain to kick the case up to hgiher courts for review, keeping the issue tied up in courts for the foreseeable future.  

“The government did not merely remind educators that discrimination is illegal: it initiated a sea change in how the Department of Education regulates educational practices and classroom conduct, causing millions of educators to reasonably fear that their lawful, and even beneficial, speech might cause them or their schools to be punished,” she added. 

The ruling followed a motion for summary judgment from the American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association, which challenged the government’s actions in a February lawsuit. 

At issue are two Education Department memos sent earlier this year, which ordered schools and universities to end all “race-based decision-making” or face penalties up to a total loss of federal funding. 

Friday’s ruling is unlikely to change anything in the near-term, as the Education Department’s efforts to dismantle DEI programs had already been temporarily blocked by several federal judges, including Gallagher herself, earlier this year. 

But the Trump administration will almost certainly appeal the case to higher courts for review, making the dispute unlikely to be resolved any time soon. 

In February, the department ordered schools and universities to end all “race-based decision-making,” or face penalties and withholding of federal funds. In April, the department requested state education agencies and boards to certify they were not using “illegal DEI practices.” Violators risked losing federal money and being prosecuted under the False Claims Act, the memo said.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LAUNCHES ‘ENDDEI’ PORTAL FOR PARENTS, STUDENTS, TEACHERS TO REPORT DISCRIMINATION 

A Department of Education sign is displayed outside their federal student aid office on May 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

A statement from the Education Department on Thursday said it was disappointed in the ruling but that “judicial action enjoining or setting aside this guidance has not stopped our ability to enforce Title VI protections for students at an unprecedented level.” 

In April, a federal judge in New Hampshire already blocked the Trump administration from cutting funding to public schools that maintain diversity programs. 

The U.S. Department of Education headquarters building in Washington, D.C.  (J. David Ake/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty said at the time that the effort by Trump’s Education Department to block federal funding to public schools that continue to promote DEI programs likely violates the First Amendment, presenting what she described as “textbook viewpoint discrimination.”