Following up on an earlier temporary restraining order, a federal District Court in Illinois (Matthew F. Kennelly) has issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the Department of Labor from cutting off funds for training women in the building trades. The Court has ruled that the Department must fund Chicago Women in Trades, a nonprofit dedicated “to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the skilled trades industry,” which receives approximately 40% of its annual budget from federal funding.
The Department had cut off funding for several projects supporting women in the trades following the issuance by President Trump of Executive Order 14151 “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” on the first day of his administration and Executive Order 14173 “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” the second day of his administration.
The second EO requires government contractors to certify that they are not in violation of federal law, including a prohibition on DEI programs. “The government may not use funding conditions to reregulate speech generally,” the Court wrote. “Although the government may use conditions to ‘define the federal program,’ it may not ‘reach outside’ the program to influence speech.”
“The provision on its face makes clear that a counterparty [to a federal contract] must certify that it does not operate any program that promotes DEI, irrespective of whether the program is federally funded,” the Court wrote.
The EO’s “reference to ‘programs promoting Dei,” moreover, is fairly read as an express reference to First Amendment-protected speech and advocacy,” the Court said. “Even if the Certification Provision is limited to promoting whatever the government may now contend is ‘illegal DEI,’ it is a bedrock First Amendment principle that advocating for violation of the law cannot be proscribed unless it rises to incitement.”
Because the Court ruled that Women in Trades was likely to prevail on its First Amendment challenge to the certification provision, it said it did not need to address its arguments on the Fifth Amendment, the separation of powers, and the Spending Clause.
The Court also enjoined the stoppage of payments on one apprenticeship contract, but denied an injunction on several others. (Chicago Women in Trades v. Trump, N.D. IL, No. 25 2005, 4/14/25.)
Add new comment