Updated 2/21/25 9:15pm EST: On Friday, U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson issued a preliminary injunction blocking two of Trump’s executive orders “ending” diversity, equity inclusion (DEI) and accessibility programs. Politico reports that the judge “ruled that Trump’s policy likely violates the First Amendment because it penalizes private organizations based on their viewpoints.”
Several civil and human rights nonprofits have sued to stop the Trump administration from cutting off federal funds and violating their constitutional rights to free speech.
The lawsuit focuses on three executive orders issued by Trump during his first two days in office, which aim to eliminate diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and accessibility programs (EO 14151); deny the existence and rights of transgender people (EO 14168); and end the use of diversity considerations in federal funding decisions (EO 14173).
The nonprofit plaintiffs allege that the Trump administration is, in effect, launching a “full-scale assault” on nonprofits.
The nonprofit plaintiffs allege that the Trump administration is, in effect, launching a “full-scale assault” on nonprofits that embrace DEI and accessibility by punishing or threatening to punish any organization that upholds those values, values protected by the Constitution.
The lawsuit comes amid a flurry of maneuvers by the Trump administration that threaten to cut federal funding to and investigate nonprofits and NGOs deemed not to serve “the national interest.” As NPQ recently reported, some nonprofits are removing language from their materials and grant applications that Trump has targeted. Sources also tell NPQ that nonprofits continue to report delays in and canceled grants and reimbursements, leading to staff furloughs and layoffs.
Violations of Free Speech and Due Process
The Legal Defense Fund and Lambda Legal brought the lawsuit on behalf of the National Urban League, the National Fair Housing Alliance, and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Donya Khadem, counsel for the Equal Protection Initiative at Legal Defense Fund, told NPQ that the three organizations represented in the lawsuit are direct service providers whose staff “are in the community every day seeing and directly addressing people who have lived experiences with health challenges, poverty, joblessness.” She explained that the plaintiffs are “focused on making sure that regardless of who you are and what your identity is, you can succeed in society.”
The 101-page complaint, filed on February 19, details the case against the Trump administration for discrimination and violations of free speech and due process.
The filing states:
With vague and ambiguous language, the Executive Orders seek to intimidate, threaten, and ultimately stop Plaintiffs from performing services central to their missions; chill and censor their speech, advocacy, and expressive activity based on content and viewpoint; and jeopardize federal grants and contracts that are critical for Plaintiffs to accomplish their mission-driven work. Defendants have already taken action to implement these Executive Orders and have begun to terminate Plaintiffs’ federal funding.
The plaintiffs label the three executive orders as “anti-equity” and “anti-diversity,” arguing that the orders will limit social and health services for marginalized communities, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and people living with HIV. They add that the actions taken by federal agencies to implement the orders are already disrupting programs that promote equal opportunities and address longstanding discriminatory barriers.
The plaintiffs label the three executive orders as “anti-equity” and “anti-diversity.”
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Backing the nonprofits’ arguments about free speech and due process violations, the lawsuit criticizes the “extraordinarily vague” executive orders, which provide terms “without sufficient standards or criteria” that federal agencies need to enforce. According to the lawsuit, the vague language “could prohibit Plaintiffs from engaging in any targeted effort to help a specific group of people facing unfair disadvantages.”
The nonprofits also point out the discriminatory nature of the executive orders, asserting that the Trump administration is “using the power and resources for the federal government to launch a full-scale assault” on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, “not only within federal agencies, but throughout the private sector in contravention of the Constitution and other federal laws.”
Bringing President Trump’s ideological agenda into the forefront, the filing states:
While the President may have his viewpoint, as flawed and discriminatory as it may be, the First Amendment bars him from unduly imposing his viewpoint on federal contractors and grantees so that Plaintiffs are forced to either violate their organizational missions or risk losing the federal funding that is vitally necessary, and even sometimes lifesaving, for the communities they serve.
Jose Abrigo, HIV project director and senior attorney at Lambda Legal, characterized the executive orders as an ultimatum telling nonprofits that “if you do not say exactly what we want you to say or believe what we want you to believe,” crucial federal funding will be withheld. “That’s just so antithetical to the fabric of who we are as a nation,” Abrigo added.
“What the administration is doing is trying to tie this country’s helping hands.”
The nonprofits are asking the court to find the three executive orders as “unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid,” restore funding, reverse actions to enforce the orders, and halt any further implementation.
As Khadem at the Legal Defense Fund said, “What the administration is doing is trying to tie this country’s helping hands….These are wild, very far-reaching orders.”
Lawsuits Growing
This latest lawsuit is part of several legal challenges against the actions of the Trump administration.
Last week, a coalition of academics, higher education officials, and others filed a lawsuit challenging two of the same executive orders targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs.
In early February, multiple lawsuits—one brought by a group of nonprofits—were filed to stop an attempted freeze of all federal grants and loans, funds already appropriated by Congress. These lawsuits are winding their way through the legal process.
Despite restraining orders issued against the federal government in these and other cases, Trump also ordered a separate, sweeping review to “align future funding” for all nongovernmental organizations with the administration’s goals and priorities and his executive actions.
