Judge blocks Trump administration from conditioning federal grants to cities on DEI and immigration
A federal judge, Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the northern District of California, has blocked the Trump management from making federal grants to cities and counties conditional upon their agreement to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Seeborg granted a preliminary injunction after finding that these funding conditions likely exceeded the administration’s legal authority and violated constitutional rights, including separation of powers and due process. The ruling prevents agencies such as Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Health and Human Services from imposing these conditions on several cities and counties that filed the lawsuit, primarily in California and Minnesota. this case is part of a broader pattern where courts have confronted the Trump administration’s efforts to curtail DEI initiatives and enforce immigration cooperation at the local level.
Judge blocks Trump administration from conditioning federal grants to cities on DEI and immigration
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from conditioning federal funding to cities and counties based on their willingness to stop promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction after previously granting a temporary restraining order in the lawsuit brought by several cities and counties, mostly in California. Seeborg, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, sided with the coalition of cities, finding that conditioning funds from federal agencies, including from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, likely exceeded the administration’s authority under the law.
“Plaintiffs here must choose between attempting compliance with unlawful conditions or forgoing millions of dollars of key federal grant funding. This choice causes irreparable harm because the Grant Conditions likely violate Separation of Powers as in excess of statutory authority and Due Process as impermissibly vague, and deprivation of constitutional rights unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury,” Seeborg said in his order.
“Even if Plaintiffs chose to try to comply with the Grant Conditions, their grants might be withdrawn or blocked or reimbursement denied. This uncertainty as to whether the Defendant agencies will consider conditions satisfied creates irreparable injury not just in the form of constitutional injury,” Seeborg added.
The order blocks the Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Health and Human Services departments from conditioning funds to the cities and counties that brought the lawsuit. The coalition that is suing the Trump administration includes the California cities of Fresno, Eureka, and South Lake Tahoe, Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the California counties of San Diego and Alameda, among others.
Seeborg’s order marks the latest instance of a federal judge blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to advance its agenda, such as ending DEI initiatives and pushing for local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The administration has also aimed to cut funds that incentivize gender ideology and DEI, but has faced legal hurdles.
The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration’s bid to cut $783 million of the National Institutes of Health’s research funds for anti-DEI reasons to move forward, as a lawsuit challenging the cuts continues in lower courts.
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The order from Seeborg also came from the Northern District of California, a popular judicial jurisdiction where opponents of the Trump administration file lawsuits.
The district, along with the districts of Massachusetts and Maryland, has become a popular destination because the bench is filled with Democrat-appointed judges.
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