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A coalition of liberal groups supporting DEI sued to block President Donald Trump’s order eliminating discrimination in federal contracting.
Trump signed an executive order in late March eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in federal contracts.
On Monday, associations representing diversity officers, professors’ groups, and minority contractors sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, naming Trump and multiple Cabinet secretaries as co-defendants.
The coalition is represented by Democracy Forward, a liberal litigation outfit chaired by Democrat election lawyer Marc Elias. The group has led numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration.
“The order is an unlawful attempt by the administration to erase the realities of race, ethnicity, and a history of discrimination in this country, and to dismantle the architecture of equality,” the complaint states.
Trump’s order also prohibits contractors from using DEI practices in hiring subcontractors.
“President Trump promised the American people to eliminate the scourge of DEI from American society, and he is delivering on that promise every single day by ensuring that every American, regardless of race, is treated equally,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday.
“The president’s actions to this end are lawful and well within his executive authority, no matter what left-wing organizations run by hacks like Marc Elias have to say about it,” Jackson added.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers released a report this month assessing companies that focused on DEI-based promotions, and it found they were 2.7% less productive. It also found promotions of minorities to management positions were four times higher from 2015 to 2023 than they were from 2005 to 2015. The study determined industries that focused heavily on DEI promotions experienced lower productivity.
The plaintiff organizations are the National Association of Diversity Officers of Higher Education; the American Association of University Professors; United Academics of Maryland–University of Maryland, College Park; the National Association of Minority Contractors; and the National Association of Minority Contractors’ District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia chapter.
“The executive order seeks to intimidate and threaten contractors, including the federal government’s longstanding partners at colleges and universities,” said Emelyn A. dela Peña, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers of Higher Education, in a public statement.
“It aims to deter them from maintaining practices or expressing views that support inclusive activities protected by law and the First Amendment,” Peña stated.
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