The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland targets two sweeping orders signed by President Donald Trump in January, including one directing federal agencies to terminate all equity-related grants and contracts and another that threatens civil investigations and financial penalties to “deter DEI programs or principles.”

The 42-page complaint claims these actions amount to a broad censorship campaign and an unconstitutional power grab. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat, condemned the orders as a direct attack on local communities and institutions that rely on federal funding.

“This executive order goes beyond just attacking DEI—it aims to establish the legal framework to attack anyone or any place who dares to celebrate our diversity,” Scott said. “Baltimore citizens risk losing vital federal funding due to this executive order, putting jobs and livelihoods at stake—and we will fight it with every legal tool available to us.”

The lawsuit was joined by the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, the American Association of University Professors, or AAUP, and Restaurant Opportunities Centers United as plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs argue that Trump’s orders unconstitutionally restrict free speech by punishing any expression or policies that promote DEI. They claim that organizations, universities, and businesses must now choose between suppressing speech on diversity or risking funding losses and legal penalties.

“Plaintiffs must either risk prosecution for making a false claim or censor promotion of their values. Our Constitution does not tolerate that result,” the lawsuit states, adding that “President Trump wishes to see the end of all diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs of any kind whatsoever” and “bypass Congress’s exclusive power of the purse” by unilaterally cutting off funds for DEI initiatives.

The complaint further alleges that the executive orders are so vaguely written that organizations cannot determine whether their programs will be deemed illegal, creating a chilling effect on free expression.

“The undefined terms leave potential targets with no anchor as to what speech or which actions the order encompasses,” the plaintiffs argue.

AAUP, which represents academic professionals across the country, contends that Trump’s orders directly threaten university programs focused on race, gender, and environmental justice. The group’s membership includes “a large number of academic professionals whose work focuses on topics related to diversity, including faculty that teach courses focused on specific racial or ethnic identities, arguing their teachings focus on “subject matter targeted by the Executive Orders.”

Trump’s administration has framed the crackdown on DEI as a return to “merit-based” governance and a rejection of any past initiatives that may have rewarded candidates to high-level positions based solely on qualities such as race and ethnicity or other physical traits like disabilities.

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Following the American Airlines midair collision with an Army helicopter over the Potomac River on Wednesday, Trump discussed the Federal Aviation Administration’s DEI initiatives under former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. He pointed to the FAA’s acknowledgment of the underemployment of employees with disabilities. 

“We have to have our smartest people” as air traffic controllers, Trump said Thursday. “It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. … They have to be talented, naturally talented.”