Appeals court allows Trump to enact anti-DEI executive orders

After a week of legal losses for the Trump administration, a federal appeals court handed the president a win on Friday night by allowing enforcement of a pair of executive orders that sought to abolish diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs from the federal government.

A panel of three judges on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found the Trump administration was likely to prevail in challenging a lower court's ruling that Trump's DEI executive orders -- one abolishing DEI in government and another requiring that grant recipients not operate DEI programs -- were unconstitutional.

The judges -- two of whom were appointed by Democratic presidents -- are allowing the Trump administration to enact the policy while they consider a final decision about whether the orders violate the Constitution.

In a concurring opinion, Judge Albert Diaz issued a warning about the political messaging surrounding DEI, which he called "a monster in America's closet." The people working to enact DEI policies "deserve praise" because they are trying to create an "environment and culture where everyone is respected and valued," he wrote.

"From boardrooms to courtrooms to operating rooms to classrooms, previously marginalized Americans are thriving in spaces long closed to them. And we are the better for it," he wrote. "As with most monsters in the closet, what lurks is but a mere shadow, for which the remedy is simply light."