Politics | DEI Judge Rules Against Trump on DEI in Schools Ruling puts at least a partial block on White House directive against diversity programs By John Johnson Posted Apr 24, 2025 12:34 PM CDT Copied President Trump holds a signed an executive order relating to school discipline policies as Education Secretary Linda McMahon look on in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) President Trump suffered a courtroom defeat on Thursday in his push to make K-12 public schools get rid of all their DEI policies. A federal judge in New Hampshire temporarily blocked the ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, ruling that the Trump administration needs to provide a better definition of what actually constitutes a DEI policy, reports the New York Times. The White House previously told the schools to ditch their diversity programs or lose federal funding—and it gave them a deadline of Thursday to show compliance. Now that deadline is on hold. The Times notes that the ruling isn't technically national in scope: It applies only to schools that have at least one member of either the National Education Association or the Center for Black Educator Development, the groups that brought the suit. However, the NEA is the nation's largest teachers union, and the ruling likely affects most school districts. The judge in the case, Landya B. McCafferty, is an appointee of former President Obama. Read These Next Sienna proves herself to be a very, very good dog. Three hikers jumped into a waterfall and never resurfaced. America has lost a '60s teen idol. Millions of student loan borrowers could see their paychecks docked. Get breaking news in your inbox. What you need to know, as soon as we know it. Sign up Report an error