Trump-appointed judge strikes down anti-DEI measures from Education Department

A Trump-appointed judge in Baltimore on Thursday blocked the Education Department from withholding billions of dollars in federal funding from public schools that continue to practice diversity inclusion initiatives — delivering a significant blow to the Trump administration's anti-DEI initiatives, though it is almost certain to be appealed to higher courts for review.

At issue were two Education Department memos issued earlier this year that threatened to withhold combined billions of dollars of funding from schools who failed to wind down their DEI programs, a key issue for the department in Trump's second term. Those efforts sparked a flurry of federal lawsuits and requests for emergency relief earlier this year...