Appeals court removes restrictions on Trump’s orders limiting programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion

After a week filled with legal defeats for the Trump administration, a federal appeals court delivered a victory to the president on Friday evening. This win came in the form of allowing the enforcement of two executive orders aimed at eradicating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the federal government.

A three-judge panel from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the Trump administration had a strong likelihood of success in contesting a lower court’s decision that declared Trump’s DEI executive orders, one eliminating DEI initiatives in government and the other mandating that grant recipients do not engage in DEI programs, as unconstitutional.

Interestingly, two of the judges on the panel were appointed by Democratic presidents. Despite this, they have permitted the Trump administration to implement the policy while they deliberate on a final verdict regarding the potential violation of the Constitution by these executive orders.

In a concurring opinion, Judge Albert Diaz issued a warning about the political messaging surrounding DEI, which he called “a monster in America’s closet.” The people working to enact DEI policies “deserve praise” because they are trying to create an “environment and culture where everyone is respected and valued,” he wrote.

“From boardrooms to courtrooms to operating rooms to classrooms, previously marginalized Americans are thriving in spaces long closed to them. And we are the better for it,” he wrote. “As with most monsters in the closet, what lurks is but a mere shadow, for which the remedy is simply light.”