ISTANBUL

A federal judge temporarily blocked US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

US District Judge Adam Abelson said the government could not freeze or cancel “equity-related” contracts, nor require grant recipients to certify that their programs do not promote DEI. Nor is the government allowed to bring any False Claims Act enforcement action, under the judge’s preliminary injunction order, according to CNN.​​​​​​​

Abelson said Trump’s policy could violate the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment due to the executive orders curtailing DEI programs being written so vaguely that groups had reason to fear “arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.”

He wrote in his 63-page ruling that “the possibilities are almost endless, and many are pernicious. If an elementary school receives Department of Education funding for technology access, and a teacher uses a computer to teach the history of Jim Crow laws, does that risk the grant being deemed ‘equity-related’ and the school being stripped of funding? If a road-construction grant is used to fill potholes in a low-income neighborhood instead of a wealthy neighborhood, does that render it ‘equity-related’?”