In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher found that the Education Department​ violated the law when it threatened to cut federal funding from educational institutions that continued with DEI initiatives.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher said the memos did not follow administrative procedure and risked a violation of free speech when threatening federal funding cuts to higher education institutions that continued DEI programs.

A federal judge appointed by Trump struck down several efforts made by the U.S. Department of Education to curb educators’ use of DEI.