Trump-appointed federal judge rules Education Department's attempts to ban DEI programs are unlawful

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, ruled on Thursday that the Department of Education's threats to cut federal funding to schools with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, were illegal.

Gallagher's ruling was related to the department's Feb. 14 memo that asserts federal law prohibits schools from using race in decisions related to education. Another letter she ruled against required schools to certify that they complied with the order.

“The administration is entitled to express its viewpoints and to promulgate policies aligned with those viewpoints,” Gallagher wrote. “But it must do so within the procedural bounds Congress has outlined. And it may not do so at the expense of constitutional rights.”

The Maryland federal judge also ruled that the administration's actions curtailed free speech by going beyond reminding teachers and officials that discrimination is illegal, according to Politico.

“The government did not merely remind educators that discrimination is illegal: it initiated a sea change in how the Department of Education regulates educational practices and classroom conduct, causing millions of educators to reasonably fear that their lawful, and even beneficial, speech might cause them or their schools to be punished,” she wrote. “The law does not countenance the government’s hasty and summary treatment of these significant issues.”

The ruling comes after the American Federation of Teachers, Democracy Forward and others sued the administration over the memos. Gallagher said she was not ruling based on the substance of the administration's positions but the process.

“This Court takes no view as to whether the policies at issue in this case are good or bad, prudent or foolish, fair or unfair,” she wrote. “But, at this stage too, it must closely scrutinize whether the government went about creating and implementing them in the manner the law requires. Here, it did not. And by leapfrogging important procedural requirements, the government has unwittingly run headfirst into serious constitutional problems.”

The Department of Education has not yet commented on the ruling.

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