Judge strikes down Ed Dept actions, rules agency violated the law with threats to cut funding over DEI
Two directives introduced by the Trump administration earlier this year have been thrown out by a federal judge.
The judge says the ruling was a procedural decision and did not comment on the "good" or "bad" of the memos.
A federal judge in Maryland has thrown out two Trump administration directives that threatened to cut federal funding from schools and universities maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, a Trump appointee, found Thursday that the department violated the law when it failed to comply with procedural requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
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The memos, sent in February and April, told institutions that any consideration of race in admissions, financial aid, hiring, or academic life could trigger severe penalties, including loss of federal support and potential prosecution. The directives extended a 2023 Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious admissions into a broad ban on “race-based decision-making” across higher education.
The American Federation of Teachers sued to block the directives, calling them an unlawful overreach that imposed vague and subjective restrictions on educators nationwide.
Gallagher agreed and wrote that the guidance created “a sea change” in regulation, leaving “millions of educators” to fear punishment for lawful classroom speech. She emphasized her decision was purely procedural, taking no position on whether the policy itself was “good or bad.”
Democracy Forward, the progressive advocacy group representing the plaintiffs, celebrated the ruling.
”This is an invaluable decision that will have a sweeping and positive impact on public schools, teachers, and students,” Democracy Forward CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement following the ruling. “Threatening teachers and sowing chaos in schools throughout America is part of the administration’s war on education, and today the people won.”
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The Education Department was left disappointed by the ruling, but remains committed to fighting DEI and discrimination.
”The department remains committed to its responsibility to uphold students’ anti-discrimination protections under the law,” an Education Department spokesperson told Courthouse News.
The spokesperson asserted that the ruling has not stopped the department’s ability to enforce Title VI protections at an “unprecedented” level.