A federal District Court in the Northern District of California (Jon S. Tigar) has preliminarily enjoined the termination of funding grants for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and several other health care and social service providers providing services primarily to the LGBTQ and transgender communities. Although the Court did not rule in favor of the agencies on all of their individual claims, it has ruled that terminations based on the President’s Executive Orders seeking to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs are likely to be in violation of the equal protection provision of the Fifth Amendment, the free speech provision of the First Amendment, and the separation of powers rules.
“While the Executive requires some degree of freedom to implement its political agenda, it is still bound by the Constitution,” the Court wrote. “And even in the context of federal subsidies, it cannot weaponize Congressionally appropriated funds to single out protected communities for disfavored treatment or suppress ideas that it does not like or has deemed dangerous. It further cannot do so in such a vague manner that all federal grantees and contractors are left to wonder what activities or expression they can engage in without risking the funding on which they depend.” (San Francisco AIDS Foundation v. Trump, N.D. CA, No. 25-cv-01824, 6/9/25.)
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