WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that President Trump’s executive orders eliminating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives among government agencies and contractors can go into effect.
A three-judge panel on the Richmond, Va.-based Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously found that Maryland federal judge Adam B. Abelson erred in granting a preliminary injunction blocking the order.
Chief Judge Albert Diaz, Judge Pamela A. Harris and Judge Allison Jones Rushing all concurred that Trump “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,” wrote Diaz, appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama.
“Whether that’s sound policy or not isn’t our call. We ask only whether the policy is unconstitutionally vague for funding recipients.”
Abelson had initially granted a nationwide injunction, which was batted down in March 2025 by the same judges, and later a preliminary injunction, which is now vacated.
Baltimore’s mayor and city council, the American Association of University Professors and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education sued the Trump administration, claiming the order violated provisions of the Constitution’s First and Fifth Amendments.
Justice Department attorneys have argued that the DEI programs and initiatives ran afoul of federal civil rights legislation.
Trump signed the first DEI-related order in a flurry of Day One executive actions. It directed federal departments and agents to cut “equity-related” grants and contracts.
The president later signed another order mandating that federal contractors certify that they don’t promote DEI.
In a brief concurring opinion, Diaz consoled “those disappointed by the outcome” to “keep the faith” and “depend on the Constitution, which remains a beacon.”
The Obama appointee, in a lengthy footnote, also criticized Secretary of State Marco Rubio for boasting about instructions to end the use of Calibri font in official departmental documents.
“The Administration’s obsession over so-called ‘woke’ DEI programs appears to know no bounds,” Diaz remarked, while noting he didn’t disagree in principle with the return to Times New Roman font.
Rubio forced the adoption “for the entirely defensible reasons that (1) his preferred choice … present a more professional and formal typography for diplomatic correspondence, and (2) use of the Calibri font had … not meaningfully improved reader accessibility,” he wrote.
“Had the Secretary left it there, I would applaud him, particularly since our court favors his font choice,” Diaz added. “But leave it there, he couldn’t. Instead, the Secretary lashed out at his predecessor for imposing yet another ‘illegal, immoral, radical [and] wasteful [diversity initiative]’ before ordering Calibri’s demise.”
