Judge blocks Education Department plan to cut grants to DEI programs

The DOE move came in 2025, shortly after President Donald Trump returned to the White House, and affected roughly $600 million in total grants.

Published: September 18, 2026 10:33am

A federal judge on Thursday blocked a Department of Education plan to cut grants to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training programs.

“Rather than confining the Directive to actions that are traditionally understood to constitute discrimination, the record instead reflects that Defendants terminated grants with [...] activities expressly undertaken to oppose discrimination,” U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley wrote, according to The Hill.

The DOE move came in 2025, shortly after President Donald Trump returned to the White House, and affected roughly $600 million in total grants.

Kelley specifically found that the change in rules was "arbitrary and capricious."

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.

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