Federal appeals court allows Trump to reinstate two executive orders regarding DEI

A three-member federal court of appeals on Friday night allowed two of President Donald Trump's executive actions targeting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies in the federal government to go into effect.

The panel lifted a lower court's injunction that blocked the two executive orders, which allowed the actions to take effect while further litigation over the issue is still ongoing, according to Politico. 

The orders directed federal agencies and government contractors to eliminate diversity programs, and instructed the Justice Department and other agencies to identify businesses, schools and nonprofits that may be discriminating via DEI. 

The higher court, which consisted of two Democratically appointed judges, said that the Trump administration was likely to win its argument that the directives, including an order urging the Department of Justice to investigate companies with DEI policies, were constitutional, Reuters reported.

The Democratically appointed judges stated that they did not agree with the substance of the order, and that diversity programs deserved praise. But the third judge, a Trump appointee, said those arguments were irrelevant to the case.

"A judge’s opinion that DEI programs 'deserve praise, not opprobrium' should play absolutely no part in deciding this case," Circuit Judge Allison Rushing wrote.

The White House and Justice Department have not commented on the ruling so far.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.