Appeals court lifts blocks on Trump's orders restricting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Abelson had found the orders likely violated free-speech rights and are unconstitutionally vague since they don't have a specific definition of DEI.
Advertisement
Trump signed an order his first day in office directing federal agencies to terminate all 'equity-related' grants or contracts. He signed a follow-up order requiring federal contractors to certify that they don't promote DEI.
The city of Baltimore and other groups sued the Trump administration, arguing the executive orders are an unconstitutional overreach of presidential authority.
The Justice Department has argued that the president was targeting only DEI programs that violate federal civil rights laws. Government attorneys said the administration should be able to align federal spending with the president's priorities.
Abelson, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden, agreed with the plaintiffs that the executive orders discourage businesses, organizations and public entities from openly supporting diversity, equity and inclusion.
Efforts to increase diversity long have been under attack by Republicans who contend the measures threaten merit-based hiring, promotion and educational opportunities for white people. Supporters say the programs help institutions meet the needs of increasingly diverse populations while addressing the lasting impacts of systemic racism.
Their purpose was to foster equitable environments in businesses and schools, especially for historically marginalized communities. Researchers say DEI initiatives date back to the 1960s but they expanded in 2020 during increased calls for racial justice.
Advertisement
In addition to the mayor and the Baltimore City Council, the plaintiffs include the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, which represents restaurant workers across the country.
Associated Press writer Lea Skene contributed to this story.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
26 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Highland protestors gather to protest Trump's gerrymandering efforts
By Rose Bombagetti's estimation, the cars honking as they whiz by the protests for which she's come out have been feeling more supportive as the weeks drag on. There are still those who aren't, of course — one man in his 20s yelled, 'Trump! Wooooooo!' as he drove past Highland's Highway of Flags Monument during the 'Fight the Trump Takeover' National Day of Action Saturday afternoon; earlier, another yelled, 'Heil Hitler!' and gave the Nazi salute, Bombagetti said. But overall, people seem to finally comprehend that the protests aren't just to annoy people. Highland Democrats Chairwoman Kelly Bridges has been feeling the change too, and was thrilled to see the small-but-dedicated crowd of 50 who convened on the corner with them. It's why her group put out the call. 'More and more, people are waking up to the necessity to fight against Trump and his destruction to our country,' Bridges said. 'These people that came out today and stood in the heat in solidarity are just one example of what it means to stand up for your rights. This is about saving our country. It's about saving our friends. It's about saving our neighbors, and we won't stop fighting.' Bombagetti, who calls Cedar Lake 'home' but snowbirds to Florida in the winter, said she's been feeling the shift down there as well. When she moved into her community, the like-minded sort of met in secret as to not provoke MAGA jeers from their neighbors. 'It was a secret 'Liberal Club,' but now, we're starting to open it up to discuss with everyone what's happening,' she said. 'Prior to coming back, I went to five protests in Florida, and I was shocked in my solid-red district, there were thousands of people out there protesting with me. And it gets bigger every time.' There are so many things that appall her about President Donald Trump's second term that bring her out to protest, she said, but no one should be surprised at any of them since he said what he was going to do if he got reelected. 'He said he would be a dictator on Day 1,' she said, referring to Trump's comment during a Fox News town hall where when he was asked if he would abuse his power as retribution against anyone and responded, 'Except for Day 1,' before clarifying he wanted to 'close the border' and 'Drill, drill drill.' 'He's destroying the Constitution, and he's killed our health care. I can't understand why Republicans are accepting of (this administration) literally choosing who can live or die. Are they really paying attention? 'I wear my 'Resist' shirts everywhere I go, and I come to protests so I can know that the whole world hasn't closed its eyes to morality. I even bring chalk with me so I can protest slogans; they're graffiti, but not the permanent, damaging kind.' Nick Egnatz, the de facto protest leader at the Highway of the Flags — first for 14 ½ years prior to the pandemic, then now — was a born-and-raised Republican. The first ballot he ever cast, in fact, was an absentee ballot from Vietnam for Richard Nixon, he said. He plans to continue. 'We have a 250-year-old democracy. It's flawed, but that's why we come together and work them out. Trump has torched that,' Egnatz said. 'We're watching what he told us he would do – he attacks truth, and science is out-the-window – and it's unacceptable.'
The Hill
26 minutes ago
- The Hill
Zohran Mamdani is a political risk Democrats shouldn't take
In a twist of comic irony, New York City — the embodiment of American capitalism — may soon have a democratic socialist mayor in 33 year old Zohran Mamdani. That being said, assuming Mamdani wins November's general election, the joke may be on national Democrats. Put another way, even as a mayoral candidate, by dint of New York City's status and his elevation into a national figure, Mamdani presents severe risks to the Democratic Party on the national stage. And as the party looks to regain even one chamber of Congress next year, there is a very real chance that Mamdani's extreme, socialist policies put the entire party's political fortunes in jeopardy. The first risk is if Mamdani's primary victory portends, or ushers in, a seismic shift for the wider Democratic Party. Coming at a time when Democrats are at a crossroads, Mamdani's win may embolden progressives, sideline moderates and drive the party further to the left. If this is the direction the Democratic Party moves in, they will end up even less politically relevant than they are today. At the same time, Mamdani's views are considerably out of line with what mainstream Democratic views should be — particularly on the economy and public safety. The U.S. is a capitalist nation. Although more can be done to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity and is protected by a social safety net, the U.S. is not a socialist country. And on public safety, Mamdani, a past proponent of 'defund the police,' is pledging to move 'billions of dollars (from the NYPD budget) to a new Department of Community Safety' that emphasizes soft on crime measures, according to New York Post reporting. With Democrats already struggling to overcome perceptions that they can't be trusted to handle the economy or public safety. And given New York City's prominence, Mamdani's policies may quickly become the face of the entire party, a gift to the GOP. The second, and arguably biggest, risk Mamdani poses lies in how he would govern. Mamdani campaigned on endless handouts backed by huge tax increases, replacing police officers with social workers, and Soviet-inspired government-run grocery stores. Whether Mamdani is able to implement any, or all, of these campaign pledges or not, Democrats will find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Either Mamdani is seen as ineffective, and just another Democrat who promised utopia but was unable to actually deliver on his lofty promises. Or, more dangerously, New Yorkers get a firsthand lesson on the dangers of socialism, sparking a considerable backlash against the Democratic Party as a whole. Worse, with New York City being a global center of culture, finance and entertainment, the entire country will witness the damage from Mamdani's policies. When government-run grocery stores show themselves to be a horrendous idea, which the Soviet Union has already shown them to be, Republicans will immediately pounce on this failure to underscore the danger in electing any Democrat. Should crime spike due to a sharp reduction in the number of police officers, Democrats across the country will be branded as soft on crime. Similarly, if excessively high taxes on the city's high-earners cause capital flight, a destruction of the city's tax base and drastically lower the overall quality of life, voters' trust in Democrats to handle the economy will sink, and it's already tremendously low. Finally, there is the issue of how Mamdani will govern the city with the world's largest Jewish population outside of Israel. Due to his history of antisemitic remarks, whether his refusal to condemn 'globalize the intifada' or unwillingness to accept Israel as a Jewish state, vitriol he's never shared for other ethnoreligious states, there are very real concerns that under his leadership, New York City will be even more hostile for Jews. Far from being a local issue, if Mamdani fails to protect New York's Jewish citizens, it will reinforce perceptions that the Democratic Party is rife with antisemitism. To be sure, national Democrats seem to be aware of the risks Mamdani poses. Some moderates, such as Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), have been blunt, saying Mamdani's 'policies do not comport' with Democrats' agenda. Others, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies (D-N.Y.) have taken a softer approach, but still indicate some unease with the socialist who has become the face of the Democratic Party. Speaking to CNBC's 'Squawk Box' on Thursday, Jefferies refused to endorse Mamdani or even say whether he was 'convinced' about Mamdani and the kind of mayor he would be. Asked about Mamdani's policy proposals, Jefferies said, 'Now, he's going to have to demonstrate…that his ideas can actually be put into reality.' Hardly a show of confidence from a party leader. Taken together, the elevation of Mamdani and his extreme views may deepen the animosity and alienation many voters feel when they think about today's Democratic Party. If voters see Mamdani's leadership devastating New York City and come to believe that this is what the Democratic Party has to offer, it stands to reason that Democrats across the country will pay the price, and likely for many election cycles to come. 'The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.'
The Hill
26 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump targets mail-in ballots, ‘seriously controversial' voting machines
President Trump announced Monday that he plans to sign an executive order to eliminate mail-in ballots and 'seriously controversial' voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. In a statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump leaned into his long-standing disdain for mail-in voting, saying other countries have abandoned the practice 'because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED.' 'I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we're at it, Highly 'Inaccurate,' Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election,' Trump wrote in his post. 'WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections,' he added. Trump for years has pushed unproven claims about widespread voter fraud involving mail-in ballots. He repeatedly described his 2020 election defeat as 'rigged,' pointing to expanded mail-in balloting that was allowed during the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly a third of ballots cast in the 2024 election were submitted by mail, according to a U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) report released in June. While mail-in ballots didn't hit the record 43-percent level seen during the height of the pandemic four years, they accounted for 30.3 percent of all ballots cast in the election, well above pre-pandemic levels. An effort to dramatically overhaul the way federal elections are run has faced legal roadblocks in recent months. In June, a judge blocked part of Trump's March executive order that sought to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day but arrived later. The judge said the president lacked the authority to impose state election rules. Trump, in his post on Monday, appeared to preempt concerns about the lack of authority. 'Remember, the States are merely an 'agent' for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do,' Trump said. The president accused Democrats of being 'virtually Unelectable without using this completely disproven Mail-In SCAM' and pledged to fight to prevent election integrity. 'ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS,' Trump wrote. 'I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS.' 'THE MAIL-IN BALLOT HOAX, USING VOTING MACHINES THAT ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER, MUST END, NOW!!! REMEMBER, WITHOUT FAIR AND HONEST ELECTIONS, AND STRONG AND POWERFUL BORDERS, YOU DON'T HAVE EVEN A SEMBLANCE OF A COUNTRY.'
