U.S. Judge Declines to Block Trump's Federal Contractor DEI Order, Rejecting Preliminary Injunction
BALTIMORE — U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 14 declined to issue a preliminary injunction and denied a motion to block President Donald Trump's executive order on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs by federal contractors while litigation proceeds. According to Reuters, the ruling means the order can remain in effect for now; it decides only the request for preliminary relief and is not a final judgment on the order's legality, and the underlying lawsuit continues.
The order at issue is Executive Order 14398, "Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors," signed by Trump on March 26 of this year. It requires federal contracts to include a clause barring what it calls "racially discriminatory DEI activities," defined as disparate treatment based on race or ethnicity in recruitment, employment, contracting, program participation, or the allocation of resources. Contractors must certify their compliance in writing and furnish books and records for verification on demand. Businesses that do not comply could lose their contracts and be investigated for violating the federal False Claims Act, because compliance is treated as material to payment decisions. Many of the largest U.S. businesses, from defense and technology companies to food service providers and logistics firms, are federal contractors.
The lawsuit was filed in April by groups representing university faculty and minority business owners, represented by the legal organization Democracy Forward. The plaintiffs argue that the order wrongly presumes that all DEI amounts to illegal racial discrimination and extends to speech protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Judge Abelson, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, found that the plaintiffs had failed to show the order was too broad, saying its definition of unlawful conduct was narrower: it prohibits only conduct already prohibited by federal law, namely intentional discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity. According to Bloomberg Law, the judge also ruled that the order is not likely to violate contractors' First Amendment free-speech rights or Fifth Amendment due-process rights.
In a statement reported by Reuters, Democracy Forward said the decision would be reassuring for federal contractors because it made clear the order does not broadly prohibit diversity programs, and that the court confirmed the order reaches no further than the work a contractor performs for the government under the specific contract where the clause appears. The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
The order faces a parallel challenge in the same court: 19 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C., have sued seeking to block federal agencies from altering contracts to comply with the order, and that case is ongoing, according to Reuters. Trump has also banned DEI programs by federal agencies and repealed a 1965 executive order that required federal contractors to take affirmative action to hire minorities and women.
(Sources: Reuters report, October 14, 2026; executive order details cross-checked against Bloomberg Law and published legal analyses)
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