Executive Order 14110 bans diversity training for 2 million federal employees

Federal judges in Maryland and New Hampshire blocked Trump administration threats to cut federal funding from schools maintaining diversity programs on Aug. 15, 2025

Trump-appointed Judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled the Education Department violated federal law by threatening to eliminate billions in Title I and special education funding over undefined 'DEI practices'

The Feb. 14, 2025 memo dramatically expanded the 2023 Supreme Court affirmative action ruling to ban all 'race-based decision-making' in education, including scholarships, hiring, and campus life

Teachers and professors faced impossible choice between 'chilling their constitutionally protected speech or facing prosecution' under vague federal guidance that didn't define prohibited activities

Judge Landya McCafferty called the restrictions 'textbook viewpoint discrimination' because professors could deny structural racism exists but faced punishment for acknowledging it

The Education Department threatened to terminate Title I funding—the largest federal K-12 revenue source serving low-income schools—over diversity programs that weren't clearly defined

Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, claimed schools 'toxically indoctrinated' students with diversity programs while providing no specific examples or definitions

American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association successfully sued, with teachers unions arguing the guidance created 'unclear and highly subjective' limits nationwide