First Amendment Likely Precludes Trump Administration's Canceling DEI-Promoting Contracts, Ninth Circuit Rules
The Ninth Circuit ruled that the Trump Administration's cancellation of DEI-promoting contracts likely violates the First Amendment. The court emphasized that the government cannot discriminate against viewpoints when providing subsidies. This decision highlights the balance between government discretion in funding programs and the prohibition of viewpoint discrimination.
- ▪The Trump Administration canceled academic grants based on recipients' DEI viewpoints.
- ▪Grant recipients argued that these cancellations were unconstitutional due to viewpoint discrimination.
- ▪The Ninth Circuit affirmed that the First Amendment prohibits the government from punishing or suppressing disfavored expression.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
First Amendment Likely Precludes Trump Administration's Canceling DEI-Promoting Contracts, Ninth Circuit Rules Eugene Volokh | 5.26.2026 3:44 PM There's a lot happening in today's decision in Thakur v. Trump, by Ninth Circuit Judges Richard Paez, Morgan Christen, and Roopali Desai, but I thought I'd focus on the First Amendment analysis. To oversimplify, the Trump Administration canceled a wide range of academic grants "because of the recipients' perceived expression of DEI, DEIA [diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility], or environmental justice viewpoints." The grant recipients sued, arguing that such viewpoint-based cancellations are unconstitutional. The law related to viewpoint-based conditions attached to government subsidies is complicated.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Reason Magazine.
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