R.I. judge issues temporary restraining order against HHS and HUD over anti-DEI, transgender restrictions on federal grants
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Lawyers for the coalition argued the restrictions were vague, violated their First Amendment right to free speech, violated the separation of powers, and the departments exceeded their authority. The policies go into effect next week, so the organizations that don't agree will lose their funding.
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Just a half-hour before the Thursday's hearing, HHS changed its policy again, removing the
'Minutes before we stood up here, HHS adopted different language for the grant policy statement that no longer contains the DEI condition,' Assistant US Attorney Kevin Love Hubbard, the chief of the civil division in the US Attorney's Office in Rhode Island, told the court.
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Now, he said, the policy was changed to say that a recipient agrees to comply with 'all federal anti-discrimination laws' in order to receive the federal funds.
'So it's basically: you have to follow federal law to get federal funds, which was the case before," Hubbard said.
Kristin Bateman, the senior counsel for Democracy Forward and one of the lawyers representing the coalition, said a temporary restraining order was still necessary because the policy could change again.
'We have an administration that wants to eradicate DEI from the government, from the private sector, and they have threatened to use the False Claims Act as a weapon to go after people who do those things,' Bateman said. 'They have made clear that they think that DEI ... often usually violates
Bateman said the administration had made clear its goals were to eradicate DEI measures, and the Department of Justice announced it would also go after DEI.
'It said, 'we're going to use False Claims Act as a 'weapon' ... and we're going to enlist the criminal division, we're going to strongly encourage private plaintiffs,'' Bateman said. 'Literally, anyone can go into court and bring a suit against somebody who is doing DEI or DEIA, and they can claim that was a violation of the certification requirement.'
After asking questions about what harms the groups would face, Dubose said she would grant a temporary restraining order.
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'Obviously, we're living in a time where there are rapidly changing circumstances. Even as we're sitting here, things are changing,' Dubose said. She had some caveats, asking the plaintiffs to narrowly tailor their order for the scope of the injunction to cover those facing 'real irreparable harm,' taking into consideration the changes in HHS policy on Thursday.
The order will apply to three divisions under
The lawsuit is led by the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence and includes other Rhode Island organizations: House of Hope Community Development Corporation; Community Care Alliance; Foster Forward; Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness; and Haus of Codec.
The coalition also includes California Partnership To End Domestic Violence, Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the District Of Columbia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin, The Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Idaho Coalition Against Sexual And Domestic Violence, Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Jane Doe Inc. (The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault And Domestic Violence), Kansas Coalition Against Sexual And Domestic Violence, Montana Coalition Against Domestic And Sexual Violence, North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Oregon Coalition Against Domestic And Sexual Violence, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, ValorUS, Violence Free Minnesota, Virginia Sexual And Domestic Violence Action Alliance, Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at
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