TheCorporateCounsel.net

On Friday, a Maryland federal court entered a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of certain provisions of the two anti-DEI executive orders that President Trump issued in January. This excerpt from Gibson Dunn’s memo on the decision summarizes the scope of the Court’s ruling:

The court enjoined the government defendants from freezing or terminating existing “equity related” contracts and grants (pursuant to EO 14151). With respect to EO 14173, the court enjoined the government defendants from (1) requiring federal contractors and grant recipients to certify that they do not “operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws,” (2) requiring federal contractors and grant recipients “to agree that [their] compliance in all respects with all applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws is material” for purposes of the False Claims Act, and (3) bringing any enforcement action targeting “DEI programs or principles.” However, the court declined to “enjoin the Attorney General from. . . engaging in investigation” of DEI programs.

The memo also points out that although the injunction is nationwide in scope, it is directed to the “Defendants” in the case, which means that the government is likely to take the position that non-defendant agencies, which include, among others, the Defense Department, the State Department and the Treasury Department, aren’t subject to the injunction unless they are acting in concert with the defendants.

– John Jenkins