Baltimore and its mayor are suing President Donald Trump and several federal departments to block executive orders that dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in public and private sectors.
The city and Mayor Brandon Scott are among the plaintiffs that include diversity officers, university professors and restaurant workers. Their 42-page federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, says the DEI orders issued during the first 100-hour blitz of Trump’s second term are unconstitutional.
Trump’s orders on Jan. 20 and 21 closed federal diversity offices, launched investigations of DEI programs and slashed federal workers.
“This executive order goes beyond just attacking DEI; it aims to establish the legal framework to attack anyone or any place who dares to celebrate our diversity,” Scott said in a news release from Democracy Forward.
Scott further described Trump’s orders as “political posturing.”
“Baltimore citizens risk losing vital federal funding due to this executive order, putting jobs and livelihoods at stake — and we will fight it with every legal tool available to us, just as we are doing with this lawsuit,” the mayor said in the Democracy Forward news release.
Scott’s office did not immediately respond to The Baltimore Sun’s request for additional information.
Multiple White House sources did not immediately respond to The Sun’s request for comment.
When Trump began his second term, he said his executive orders would end “illegal discrimination” and DEI programs he and some other conservatives view as radical and wasteful. Trump said he would “create a society that is blind to color and based on merit.”
An alternative movement — merit, excellence and intelligence (MEI) — has been endorsed by Trump adviser Elon Musk, a tech mogul who leads the nongovernmental Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and has had outsized influence on federal decisions.
A news release from Democracy Forward says Trump’s DEI orders will have “disastrous impacts” on cities, communities, higher education and working people, and “have sowed chaos, fear, and confusion.”
The new federal lawsuit says Trump’s orders exceed his authority and that he “cannot usurp Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, nor can he silence those who disagree with him by threatening them with the loss of federal funds and other enforcement actions.”
“In the United States, there is no king,” the lawsuit says.
This fight continues one that began in the summer, when some Americans believed a U.S. Supreme Court decision shifted more power to U.S. presidents.
As Trump has taken office and begun wielding that power, demonstrations have popped up across the country to protest his multiple, sweeping executive orders that are dismantling federal departments, agencies and its workforce.
Multiple protests are planned Wednesday at state capitals, including in Annapolis, as demonstrators call on governors to fight back against Trump’s early moves.
Trump promised this overhaul on the campaign trail to crowds of cheering supporters. A recent IPSOS/Reuters poll shows his actions against the federal workforce are his most popular, and a recent Baltimore Sun reader poll showed a narrow majority of respondents support ending DEI programs in workplaces and institutions.
The president’s broad orders have left plaintiffs wondering “whether, and for how long, they can rely on” federal funding, according to the lawsuit.
“Terminating federal funds for college teachers and researchers will halt critical research on cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, undermining the health care of all Americans while making universities less inclusive and less equitable,” Todd Wilson, president of the American Association of University Professors, said in a statement.
Have a news tip? Contact politics editor Candy Woodall at cwoodall@baltsun.com.