A federal district court temporarily struck down an executive order from lame duck president Donald Trump barring federal contractors from conducting diversity and inclusion programs, saying that Trump’s order illegally restricts free speech.

Trump’s Executive Order 13950 claims that such diversity training is divisive and contrary to American values, providing to “divisive concepts” and “[r]ace or sex stereotyping,” apparently unaware of what racism and sexism is.

EO 13950, which he signed on September 22, 2020, bans federal agencies and contractors from conducting any diversity training and threatens federal contracts for those who continue with such programs.  It also demands that all training material be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for review, and that any individuals involved in such training report violations to the federal government.

US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman of the US District Court for Northern California, however, saying that the Trump Administration’s arguments to uphold the EO are “flatly wrong” in that federal money is not directly used for such training in most businesses.  Freeman, an Obama appointee, also stated that the EO was an unreasonable imposition on First Amendment rights of the contractors.

In another event, multiple federal employees filed whistleblower complaints relating to Trump’s so-called “Diversity Directives”, saying that it has already resulted in illegal suppression of speech among employees, including federal supervisors ordering employees to not discuss diversity initiatives during their lunch breaks.

Other complaints by federal employees state that regularly scheduled work group and committee meetings, such as the Department of Justice’s long-standing Gender Equality Network, which promotes inclusion of all genders in department leadership, were forced to cancel already-scheduled seminars because of the overly-broad wording of the EO.