Judge blocks Trump orders on halting grants over DEI

Photo: Chris Ryan/Getty Images

Last week a federal judge in Maryland temporarily barred the Trump Administration from halting federal support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, saying Trump’s executive orders likely violate the First Amendment.

In his decision, Baltimore-based U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson referenced Trump orders directing the Justice Department to investigate companies and organizations with DEI initiatives, including healthcare organizations, and directing federal agencies to terminate equity-related grants and contracts.

“The White House and attorney general have made clear, through their ongoing implementation of various aspects of the J21 order, that viewpoints and speech considered to be in favor of or supportive of DEI or DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility) are viewpoints the government wishes to punish and, apparently, attempt to extinguish,” Abelson wrote. “And, as the Supreme Court has made clear time and time again, the government cannot rely on the ‘threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion’ to suppress disfavored speech.”

WHAT’S THE IMPACT?

According to the American Journal of Managed Care, a  survey of 118 health systems found healthcare organizations had twice the number of employees at risk of leaving if the workforce did not prioritize diversity and equity versus workforces that do. 

AJMC posited that removing DEI initiatives from the healthcare industry could lead to minority physicians leaving or being pushed out of the profession, and could minimize cultural sensitivity in dealings with patients.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which include the city of Baltimore and various higher education organizations, filed the lawsuit earlier this month, citing the unconstitutionality of Trump’s orders and the overreach of executive authority.

According to the Associated Press, the Trump Administration said the executive orders were targeted solely at DEI programs that violate federal civil rights laws, with a Justice Department attorney saying the government “doesn’t have the obligation to subsidize plaintiffs’ exercise of speech.”

Trump and various federal agencies are now blocked from implementing the orders pending the lawsuit’s outcome. The administration must not pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel or terminate funds to any contractors or recipients, not just the plaintiffs, according to Abelson’s decision.

The administration is also blocked from including requirements in grants or contracts that the recipients not operate any DEI programs, which was another facet of Trump’s orders, although in the healthcare industry, there’s still confusion about whether providers and payers participating in Medicare are considered federal contractors.

THE LARGER TREND

The U.S. is already the lowest- or second-lowest-ranking country when it comes to measures such as access, equity and outcomes, despite spending more on healthcare than any other country, a 2024 Commonwealth Fund analysis showed.

The poor showing by the U.S. stands in stark contrast to how much it spends on healthcare. In 1980, U.S. expenditures were at the high end of the distribution among the 10 nations studied, but comparable to outlays in Sweden and Germany – 8.2% of GDP. Since then, however, the U.S. has far outpaced other nations, spending more than 16% of its GDP on healthcare in 2022. And that figure is predicted to exceed 20% by 2035.

Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.