A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on DEI programs at federally funded schools, claiming the administration bypassed procedural requirements. 

Maryland District Court Judge Stephanie Gallagher ruled on Thursday against guidance from the Education Department warning schools not to implement DEI programs that discriminate against white or Asian students. Gallagher’s ruling also applied to the Education Department’s demand that schools certify they were not discriminating through DEI programs.  

“This Court takes no view as to whether the policies at issue in this case are good or bad, prudent or foolish, fair or unfair,” Gallagher wrote. “But, at this stage too, it must closely scrutinize whether the government went about creating and implementing them in the manner the law requires. Here, it did not. And by leapfrogging important procedural requirements, the government has unwittingly run headfirst into serious constitutional problems.”

“The administration is entitled to express its viewpoints and to promulgate policies aligned with those viewpoints. But it must do so within the procedural bounds Congress has outlined. And it may not do so at the expense of constitutional rights,” the Trump-appointed judge added. 

The ruling was prompted by a lawsuit from the American Federation of Teachers and other teacher groups. The guidance was first blocked back in April. 

In response, the Department of Education said that it would continue to protect students from racial discrimination across the country. 

“While the Department is disappointed in the judge’s ruling, judicial action enjoining or setting aside this guidance has not stopped our ability to enforce Title VI protections for students at an unprecedented level,” a spokesman said. “The Department remains committed to its responsibility to uphold students’ anti-discrimination protections under the law.”

The original guidance from the department was issued in February, and state education agencies were requested to certify compliance in April. It sought to end the practices of some schools to bypass the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn affirmative action and to end racially-based DEI school programs. The guidance suggested that schools could lose funding if they continued to promote DEI.  

“American educational institutions have discriminated against students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds and low-income families. These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia,” the guidance read. “The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent.”