Federal Circuit Court Rejects Attempt to Subvert Trump's Anti-DEI Executive Orders
During his first days in office, U.S. President Donald J. Trump, moved swiftly on his campaign promises.
Our nation's 47th commander in chief issued a tandem of executive orders (EOs) ending radical and wasteful Government DEI programs and illegal discrimination, and restoring merit-based opportunity.
These EO's rescinded the Biden Administration's aggressive "illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI)."
Those programs were predicated on the false, divisive narrative of "systemic racism" and had permeated all of government, higher education, and even corporate America.
Biden's DEI policies violated "the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws"; and discredited and undermined the very Foundation of the American dream rooted in "traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement."
Undaunted, the mayor and Baltimore City Council, the American Association of University Professors, and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education sued in federal district court challenging Trump's Executive Orders on First and Fifth Amendment grounds.
That lawsuit resulted in the district court issuing a nationwide preliminary injunction.
The Trump Administration appealed, and, on Feb. 6, 2026, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, issued its decision in National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education v. Trump vacating that misguided injunction.
This is a tremendous victory for our Constitution, equal rights, and merit-based opportunity.
Two provisions of the EOs were at issue in the case: the Termination Provision, which requires termination of all DEI "mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government" and all "equity-related" grants and contracts; and the Certification Provision, which requires agencies to include in "every contract or grant award" a provision requiring contractors and grant recipients to certify compliance with Federal anti-discrimination laws and certify that they don't operate any DEI programs in violation of those laws.
The Fourth Circuit rejected plaintiffs' Fifth Amendment Due Process argument that the Termination Provision was unconstitutionally vague, ruling that the EO only "instructs the President’s subordinates to act" – that is, to terminate (among other things) equity-related grants or contracts, – and then only "to the maximum extent allowed by law."
It is the president's executive prerogative to determine his policy priorities and to instruct his agents to execute funding decisions accordingly.
The court likewise rejected the plaintiffs' First Amendment challenge that the Certification Provision impermissibly discriminated based on viewpoint and chilled protected speech by targeting DEI programs.
To the contrary, the court concluded that the provision only requires certification of compliance with existing legal obligations under federal anti-discrimination laws.
There is no protectable speech interest in operating and no constitutional right to operate DEI programs that violate federal anti-discrimination law.
While the law is clear that DEI violates the civil rights laws and the Constitution, especially given the Supreme Court's Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College decision that DEI in college admissions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, radical progressives continue their pernicious DEI assault on equal rights.
Most recently, for example, Gov. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., on day one of her administration, issued an executive order (deceptively titled "Equal Opportunity") reviving DEI, which had been vanquished by her predecessor Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va.
Specifically, her order directs "affirmative measures" to "emphasize" recruitment and hiring based on DEI at "all levels of state government."
Clearly, the left will not relent in the pursuit of their agenda and defiance of the law.
So, the battle must rage on in the courts and at the ballot box as we remain ever vigilant in protecting our fundamental constitutional rights.
Mike Clancy is a lawyer, member of the Federalist Society, political and legal commentator, and a former Republican nominee for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. Follow him on X: @MikeClancyVA. Read more Mike Clancy Insider articles — Click Here Now.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.