President Donald Trump and his administration have taken action to address and end racially discriminatory "diversity, equity, and inclusion" policies, or DEI, but have quite predictably faced opposition to those moves via lawsuits filed by partisan opponents.

On Thursday, just as predictably, a Democrat-appointed federal judge blocked much of the Trump administration's anti-DEI agenda, at least as it pertains to educational institutes at all levels, according to The Hill.

Ironically, the judge ruled that the administration's efforts to root out racial discrimination in schools were in themselves discriminatory of ideological viewpoints that are protected by the First Amendment.

Trump seeks to end DEI policies in schools

During President Trump's first couple of weeks in office, he issued multiple executive orders aimed at ending DEI programs, ending illegal discrimination, and ending radical indoctrination in schools, to be replaced by a sharpened focus on equal treatment and merit.

Following those orders, Education Secretary Linda McMahon issued a "Dear Colleagues" letter on February 14 that warned the heads of all "preschool, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educational institutions that receive federal financial assistance" that, should they persist with racially discriminatory DEI practices and policies, they were at risk of being cut off from critical federal funding.

"All educational institutions are advised to: (1) ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law; (2) cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends; and (3) cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race," the secretary wrote.

She added, "Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding."

Preliminary injunction issued

According to Courthouse News, McMahon's letter prompted the filing of a federal lawsuit in New Hampshire by the National Education Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Center for Black Educator Development, all of whom sought an injunction from the court.

On Thursday, in an 82-page order, U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty, an Obama appointee, granted the plaintiffs the preliminary injunction they had requested to block any actions from the administration related to President Trump's orders and Sec. McMahon's letter.

McCafferty took issue with the letter's "vague and threatening" promise of consequences based upon "ill-defined criteria" for what constitutes a DEI policy or program that could place federal funding at risk.

"Although the 2025 letter does not make clear what exactly it prohibits, it makes at least one thing clear: schools should not come close to anything that could be considered 'DEI,' lest they be deemed to have guessed wrong in violation of the 2025 letter’s vague and expansive prohibitions," the judge said in her ruling.

Threat of consequences over DEI likely violates First Amendment, judge says

In the end, Judge McCafferty determined that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their arguments that the administration's actions constituted "textbook viewpoint discrimination" in violation of the First Amendment.

As such, she imposed a preliminary injunction to block the administration from withholding any federal funds from educational institutions over DEI-related issues, and though the judge declined to impose the injunction nationwide and instead limited it to the plaintiffs in the case, the ruling will nonetheless be felt nationwide as the NEA, the nation's largest teachers' union, controls most educational institutions at all levels all across the country.

The Education Department declined to respond to a request for comment about the ruling from The Hill, but it is broadly expected that the administration will appeal this injunction and attempt to proceed with its plans to end discriminatory DEI policies and practices in schools.