On Thursday July 31st, the City of Seattle announced it filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in federal court. Headed by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and City Attorney Ann Davison, the motion seeks to challenge President Trump on two directives signed in the beginning of his second term.
Both the “ Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government" and “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity" executive orders will be taken to trial in the Western District of Washington.
Filing the complaint as plaintiffs, the City of Seattle states: “These Orders seek to interfere with congressionally authorized federal grants to advance and expedite the Administration’s policy agenda of eliminating all diversity, equity or inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives, irrespective of the type, scope, or sources of funding used to carry out these efforts.”
In the last six months, the Trump administration has been enforcing its anti-LGBTQ and anti-DEI policies by threatening the withdrawal of federal funds, primarily towards Democratic controlled state and local municipalities, school districts, universities, and private companies.
Criticizing the politically motivated usage of these policies, the document states “The Anti-Diversity Order, while purporting to protect civil rights, imposes new and unlawful obligations on federal contract and grant recipients by compelling the termination of lawful DEI training and initiatives.”
Giving its justification for taking the Trump administration to court, the city claims these executive orders “are unlawful because they are arbitrary and capricious, contrary to constitutional rights, and issued in excess of the President’s authority.”
This is a developing story, return to www.sgn.org for more updates.
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