By Daniel Wiessner
(Reuters) -A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump from refusing to fund domestic violence programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion or transgender rights.
U.S. District Judge William Smith in Providence, Rhode Island, agreed with a coalition of 17 groups that the conditions set by the U.S. Department of Justice in May, which reflect the administration’s broader agenda, were likely arbitrary and violated federal law.
“If the Court does not grant preliminary relief … this could result in the disruption of important and, in some cases, lifesaving services to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence,” wrote Smith, an appointee of President George W. Bush, a Republican.
Smith blocked the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women from imposing the conditions pending the outcome of the lawsuit, which could take months or longer to resolve.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democracy Forward, which is representing the plaintiffs along with other groups, said the ruling ensures that survivors of domestic violence can access services and support.
“The Justice Department should be exploring what they can be doing to keep people and communities safe, not threatening funding for local and community organizations with proven results,” Skye Perryman, the group’s president, said in a statement.
The Justice Department office was created to implement the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which authorizes federal grant funding for programs related to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other violent crimes against women.
The office in May updated grant announcements to include an expansion of existing “out-of-scope activities” for grant recipients.
The agency barred funding for research projects and programs that promote violations of federal immigration law, discrimination including diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and “gender ideology.”
Trump, a Republican, has engaged in an aggressive campaign to eradicate DEI programs in the federal government and the private sector and to wipe out legal rights for transgender people.
The 17 groups that sued the Justice Department in June claim the conditions imposed on domestic violence grants violate program operators’ constitutional rights of free speech and due process, and are arbitrary in violation of a federal law governing agency rulemaking.
Smith in Friday’s decision did not address the groups’ constitutional claims.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
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