LDF filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the NAACP and the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, Inc. (“MAEC”) challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s unlawful elimination of the federal equity assistance center program (“EAC program”) and related grants. Since 1964, Congress has appropriated critical funding to equity assistance centers, like MAEC, to support state education agencies, school districts, and students with their efforts to promote equal educational opportunity across the United States.
The lawsuit references the Department of Education’s action on February 13, 2025 to abruptly and arbitrarily terminate the equity assistance program and funding to MAEC and other grantees, robbing them of the resources needed for it to continue working with schools to prevent and remedy ongoing problems of discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, gender, and religion.
The lawsuit asserts that the Department of Education’s move to terminate the equity assistance centers is a part of President Trump’s unlawful and discriminatory attack on so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives. The Department’s actions ignore the federal government’s obligations under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Education Amendments of 1972, and other anti-discrimination laws to provide schools with critical technical assistance to prevent discrimination.
LDF filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the National Academy of Education (NAEd) and National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), two education research organizations, challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to no longer collect, maintain, analyze, and disseminate federal educational data.
LDF, NAEd, and NCME allege that the Department of Education’s actions violate the Department’s legal obligations and have undermined researchers’ and state and local governments’ efforts to track and advance equal access to education nationwide.
The lawsuit responds to a series of recent actions by the Department of Education to dismantle itself and its research centers and undermine federal research laws, including: a reduction in force within key education data offices; the restriction of public access to existing datasets; and the vast and abrupt termination of longstanding contracts within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
The Education Department issued a “Dear Colleague” Letter on Feb. 14, followed by a “Frequently Asked Questions” document on Feb. 28 and a certification requirement on April 3 — all of which include factual inaccuracies and misinterpretations of civil rights laws and threaten the termination of critical public education funds.
The lawsuit alleges that the Education Department’s communications to recipients of federal funds present a legally flawed and unsupported interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit additionally alleges that the Education Department is intentionally discriminating against Black students through its efforts to defund federal grantees based on erroneous facts and interpretations of law.
A coalition of voting rights organizations filed a lawsuit to challenge President Trump’s unlawful executive order on voting that attempts to seize the power to set voter registration rules from Congress and the states by requiring a passport or similar documentation of citizenship in order to register to vote. These requirements would violate federal law and the Constitution if carried out by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). On Apr. 24, a federal court blocked the documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement.
Key provisions of Trump’s executive order could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, particularly voters of color, women voters, naturalized citizens, voters with disabilities, voters with low incomes, and first-time voters.
The Apr. 24 federal court order temporarily blocks the EAC from implementing a mandate in the president’s executive order to add a requirement to show a passport or similar document proving citizenship (that a majority of Americans don’t possess) when registering to vote via the federal form. While the case proceeds, this injunction preserves the status quo. Would-be-voters already affirm under penalty of perjury that they are U.S. citizens on the federal form.
LDF and Lambda Legal represent the National Urban League, the National Fair Housing Alliance, and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago in a lawsuit challenging three executive orders from President Trump related to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and transgender people. In National Urban League v. Trump, LDF and Lambda Legal claim that the administration is violating the organizations’ rights to free speech and due process and is engaging in intentional discrimination by issuing and enforcing the anti-equity orders.
LDF and Lambda Legal claim these orders will severely limit the organizations’ ability to provide critical social and health services such as HIV treatment, fair housing, equal employment opportunities, affordable credit, civil rights protections, and many others. The lawsuit also highlights how the executive orders exhibit a particular prejudice against Black and transgender people.
The three executive orders being challenged terminate equity-related grants and forbid federally-funded entities from engaging in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs, and from recognizing the existence of transgender people. Together, these orders reverse decades of civil rights progress and pose an existential threat to the organizations that advocate for the civil rights of transgender people, and provide them shelter, services, and support.
On January 20, a group of immigrants’ rights advocates represented by LDF and co-counsel filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s executive order that interprets of Fourteenth Amendment to eliminate birthright citizenship to children born in the United States. On Feb. 10, a federal court in New Hampshire issued a preliminary injunction blocking the order that seeks to strip certain babies born in the United States of their U.S. citizenship.
