“If there’s no enforceability because you’ve decided to lay down on your back and kiss the ring, then this country is in trouble,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., told theGrio.
Despite a federal judge blocking President Donald Trump’s anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion executive orders, his administration is being accused of ignoring the court ruling by still requiring government contractors and nonprofits receiving federal grants to comply with the orders.
The nonprofit Democracy Forward, which is representing plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against Trump’s anti-DEI orders, has filed an emergency motion for a status conference with the court. It cites a recent report from Rolling Stone that claims administration officials have internally and externally dismissed the court injunction as “irrelevant” and told staff and outside agencies “do not worry about the court.”
“The Government’s failure to comply with this injunction is freezing funding for critical services and threatening the First Amendment rights of all Americans,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement on Thursday. “The court must act quickly to ensure the Trump administration’s unlawful overreach comes to an end. In the United States, no one is above the law and the Trump administration must not be allowed to continue to act without regard to court orders.”
In a letter to the Department of Justice, attorneys for Democracy Forward accused several federal agencies of ignoring U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson’s Feb. 21 ruling that ordered the federal government to continue grants and contracts without the implementation of Trump’s order, which calls to eliminate all diversity programs and language throughout the federal government and entities that receive federal funding. Abelson said the orders likely carry constitutional violations, including against free-speech rights.
After the DOJ concluded Abelson’s injunction only covered agencies named in the lawsuit, the judge later clarified on March 10 that his order applied to the entire federal government. Despite this, the Trump administration is being accused of defying the court.
Democracy Forward cites in their letter to the DOJ instances like the Environmental Protection Agency announcing the cancellation of 400 DEI and environmental justice grants just hours after Judge Abelson’s clarification. Additionally, Scott Turner, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), rejected a municipality’s disaster relief plan due to DEI-related provisions.
“Let me be clear DEI is dead at HUD. We will not provide funding to any program or grantee that does not comply with President Trump’s executive orders,” Scott said on March 11.
“It appears that agencies have not fully reinstated grants and contracts that were wrongly terminated or frozen from January 20 onwards, have not communicated the removal of any certification requirements to counterparties, and have not communicated the end of any threat of enforcement stemming from the Enjoined Provisions to targets of enforcement,” said the letter from Democracy Forward’s counsel.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, who is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, told theGrio that Trump ignoring the court “always has to be a concern.”
“There are three branches of government for a reason,” said Scott. “That’s why we have…those levels of accountability so that not one person or one branch of government can just do what they want.”
When asked about the prospect of the Trump administration defying the order blocking the president’s anti-DEI orders, U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., told theGrio, “We’re not going to stand for it.” She added, “We are holding not only the government accountable, but we’re looking at these corporations that have indicated that they’re rolling back their efforts.”
However, it’s unclear whether there are enforceable mechanisms in the event the Trump administration continues to ignore court rulings. Legal experts say this presents a potential constitutional crisis. Beyond the judicial branch, Congress has the check and balance of impeachment; however, given Trump’s impeachment and acquittal twice in his first term and congressional Republicans’ deep loyalty to the president, it’s unlikely to be a real option.
U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, told theGrio, “Part of our job is to tell the truth; get that out to the American people so that the pressure can come from the outside.”
Assuming the anti-DEI case goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, Kamlager-Dove said, “The buck ultimately is going to stop with [them].” She added, “Is the Supreme Court going to yield its power and let this man become king?”
The congresswoman continued, “If there’s no enforceability because you’ve decided to lay down on your back and kiss the ring, then this country is in trouble.”
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