Halts $65M DEI Teacher Grant Spending​

In a 5–4 emergency ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to halt distribution of approximately $65 million in teacher training grants tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.  The decision temporarily lifts a lower court order that had required the Department of Education to resume the grants in eight states.

The ruling is not a final decision on the matter but marks a key development in the broader legal dispute over the future of federal DEI-related spending. The court wrote in its ruling:

“Respondents have represented in this litigation that they have the financial wherewithal to keep their programs running. So, if respondents ultimately prevail, they can recover any wrongfully withheld funds through suit in an appropriate forum.”

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The Hill reported that the case could eventually return to the Supreme Court for a final ruling, depending on how the lower courts handle the ongoing litigation.

The affected grants are part of a larger set of DEI initiatives that have come under scrutiny during President Donald Trump’s second term. In January, Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,” directing agency and department heads to shut down DEI-related offices, programs, grants, and personnel.

The order instructed all federal agencies to:

“terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions (including but not limited to ‘Chief Diversity Officer’ positions); all ‘equity’ actions, initiatives, or programs, ‘equity-related’ grants or contracts; and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.”

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The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), under the direction of Secretary Elon Musk, has been leading the administrative effort to implement the executive order.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court just ruled 5-4 that the Trump admin can block teacher development grants which may be promoting DEI.

This ruling lifts a lower judge’s order that forced the Education Department to resume these grants.

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In February, DOGE announced the cancellation of 29 teacher training grants connected to DEI programming, totaling $101 million. The department also reported the termination of 89 federal contracts valued at a combined $881 million.

The Supreme Court’s decision this week supports DOGE’s move to suspend a portion of the funding while legal challenges continue.

Breitbart News’s Katherine Hamilton first reported on the extent of DOGE’s grant terminations in February, noting the sweeping scale of the administration’s rollback of DEI-focused expenditures.

The freeze on funding impacts several educational programs in eight states, where school districts and education agencies had been receiving federal support for teacher development and curriculum updates centered around DEI practices.

Legal observers expect the litigation surrounding the halted funds to continue in lower courts in the coming months, and possibly return to the Supreme Court for a final judgment.

As the legal battle unfolds, the Trump administration has signaled that it will continue its effort to dismantle federally funded DEI programs across all levels of government. The Department of Education and DOGE have not commented further on the Supreme Court’s emergency ruling.

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