FILE-President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference on an aircraft collision at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, 2025. (Photo by Hu Yousong/Xinhua via Getty Images)
A lawsuit was filed by Democratic state officials alleging federal agencies disregarded the law by enforcing President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives by federal contractors.
State officials are claiming that the federal agencies enacting Trump's order have violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations.
RELATED: Trump administration orders all federal DEI staff be put on leave
Officials alleged that federal agencies acted in an arbitrary way while failing to seek public comment before attaching language from Trump’s order to federal contracts and attempting to block them from enacting the new contract terms, according to Reuters.
Trump administration DEI lawsuit
Dig deeper: Reuters reported that a lawsuit was filed by the attorneys general of 19 states and Washington, D.C., alleging that over two dozen federal agencies are adding updated terms to federal contracts banning "any racially discriminatory DEI activities" without notice or an explanation of what is prohibited.
The lawsuit also finds that state agencies contract with the federal government and the states involved in the case hold billions of dollars in contracts.
RELATED: Tuskegee Airmen videos removed from Air Force training under Trump DEI rollback
Citing federal estimates from Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, Reuters noted that President Donald Trump's order may impact up to 640,000 contracts and subcontracts with over 34,000 unique contractors.
Trump ordered federal agencies to espouse these latest terms in a March executive order, which was part of an overall effort to eliminate DEI initiatives.
In 2025, Trump enforced several orders to eradicate DEI programs from the federal government, higher education, government contractors, and grant recipients.
Reuters reported that Trump also repealed an executive order issued by former President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 that required federal contractors to take affirmative action to hire minorities and women.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by Reuters, which cited the lawsuit on the Trump administration’s anti-DEI federal contract policies. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.