An appeals court on Friday said President Donald Trump can continue to slash diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from the federal government as a lawsuit plays out.
The decision, rendered by a panel of three judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reverses a nationwide injunction from United States District Judge Adam Abelson, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden.
Two of the three judges said Abelson’s “sweeping block went too far,” though they said Trump’s DEI-related orders could raise First Amendment concerns, Fox News reported.
Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEl Programs and Preferencing and Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions.” The Office of Personnel Management then began implementing the order with a memo instructing agency heads to begin the purge of DEI offices and officials, The Daily Wire reported.
“The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military,” Trump’s order reads. “This was a concerted effort stemming from President Biden’s first day in office, when he issued Executive Order 13985, ‘Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.'”
Under Biden, “nearly every Federal agency and entity submitted ‘Equity Action Plans’ to detail the ways that they have furthered DEI[‘]s infiltration of the Federal Government,” the order continues. “The public release of these plans demonstrated immense public waste and shameful discrimination. That ends today. Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”
Trump’s order has started to take effect across numerous agencies, including the Department of the Interior, one of the wokest agencies in the federal government.
As noted by Fox News, Trump is facing a second lawsuit challenging DEI-related orders. The suit was filed Wednesday in the D.C. District Court by NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Lambda Legal, repping nonprofit advocacy organizations.
White House spokesman Harrison Fields said in response that “the radical leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda,” according to The New York Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment