Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown and 17 other attorneys general filed an amicus brief supporting a legal challenge to two Trump-era executive orders that restrict federal funding for programs promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Per the news release distributed on Thursday, May 15: “Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today, as part of a coalition of 18 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief supporting a legal challenge to two of President Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives.
Attorney General Brown and the coalition filed their brief in National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education v. Trump before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The plaintiffs in the case—higher education associations and the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore—challenged vague provisions in the executive orders that direct federal agencies to terminate “equity-related grants or contracts” and to include in contracts or grant awards a requirement that recipients certify they do not operate programs promoting “diversity, equity and inclusion.” One of the orders also directed the U.S. Attorney General to encourage the private sector to end diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The administration has not defined critical terms in the executive orders, including which diversity, equity, and inclusion practices it finds objectionable.
“These unconstitutional executive orders force Maryland’s federal contractors and grantees to make an impossible choice: abandon critical programs that promote fairness, opportunity, and belonging, or lose millions in federal funding,” said Attorney General Brown. “By supporting Baltimore’s lawsuit, we’re fighting not only for Maryland’s financial interests but also for the fundamental principles of inclusion and opportunity that make our communities, schools, and workplaces stronger.”
A lower court concluded that plaintiffs were likely to succeed with their case and entered a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from enforcing the provisions of the orders being challenged by the lawsuit. The administration sought and was granted a stay of the injunction from the Fourth Circuit pending a decision on the merits of the appeal. Attorney General Brown and the attorneys general are asking the court to affirm the district court’s order and put the injunction back in place.
In their brief, the attorneys general maintain that diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs are lawful and beneficial. In fact, many such programs ensure compliance with state and federal civil rights statutes. The attorneys general also explain how the challenged provisions in the executive orders harm the states—as well as their residents and businesses—by denying them the many valuable benefits associated with workplaces, schools, and communities that have adopted practices related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Attorney General Brown was joined in filing the brief by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.”