A federal judge granted plaintiffs a restraining order temporarily blocking restrictions that the Trump Administration put on grants given to organizations which serve survivors of sexual and domestic violence, LGBTQ+ youth, and unhoused people.
The decision was made by Rhode Island District Judge Melissa DuBose as she presided over the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence v. Kennedy case.
The case was brought to court by a coalition of national organizations serving these marginalized populations, and challenged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with secretary Scott Turner, and additional government departments and officials, according to Advocate.
Plaintiffs challenged Trump’s executive orders issued early this year, which allowed the HHS and HUD to restrict or deny funds to both LGBTQ+ organizations and those with DEI programming. With a loss of funding many of these organizations across the country could dissolve completely or risk legal action if they continue operations.
Participating organizations claimed that “the executive branch cannot unilaterally leverage funding Congress appropriated for use on programs Congress created to advance the executive’s own policy goals,” according to case documents published by Democracy Forward.
Plaintiffs also claimed the executive branch violated the First Amendment “by forcing grantees to voice the Administration’s views on gender and by restricting grantees from promoting diversity, equity and inclusion even when not using federal funds.”
Legal representation was supported by Democracy Forward, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Rhode Island, Jacobson Lawyers Group, National Women’s Law Center, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island.
Plaintiffs issued a joint statement on the case via Democracy Forward writing: “The court’s order is a critical step in protecting life-saving programs and ensuring that the providers across the country can continue their work without political inference. We brought this case because we have seen firsthand the harm these restrictions would cause. This ruling affirms what we have long known, that the law does not permit any government to use its funding power to force service providers to abandon their core principles.”
Democracy Now President Skye Perryman said the legal nonprofit will not give up the fight, “this administration continues to target people in vulnerable communities, and we continue to meet them in court.”
