DOJ Petitions Supreme Court to Overturn Injunction Blocking DEI-Based Research Grant Terminations

DOJ Petitions Supreme Court to Overturn Injunction Blocking DEI-Based Research Grant Terminations

The Trump administration has escalated its fight against diversity initiatives to the nation's highest court. On Tuesday, August 18, 2026, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer submitted a petition for a writ of certiorari in Thakur v. Trump, seeking to overturn a lower court ruling that bars the termination of federal research grants based on the inclusion of diversity-related language.¹ The Supreme Court has until September 18, 2026, to respond to the petition.

The legal battle stems from a January 2025 executive order signed by President Trump directing the federal government to cancel all programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Under this directive, federal agencies used keywords relating to diversity, gender, and COVID-19 to terminate more than 1,000 of the University of California's (UC) research grants in 2025, including freezing nearly $600 million in UCLA's research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), and Department of Energy (DOE).

In July 2025, eight UC researchers filed a lawsuit challenging the cancellations. California Federal District Judge Rita F. Lin ordered the federal government to restore the grants, and in May 2026, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the researchers, finding that the Trump administration could not terminate grants based on the recipients' assumed beliefs about DEI.

In its petition to the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice argues that the government has the constitutional authority to selectively fund projects that align with its policy objectives:

"Just as the First Amendment permits the government to award highly competitive artistic grants based on the viewpoints of decency and respect, so too does the First Amendment permit terminating highly competitive NSF and NEH grants based on opposition to the viewpoints of the DEI projects at issue here."

The petition further asserts:

"The general requirement of viewpoint neutrality does not require taxpayers to continue funding projects that the government concludes no longer serve the public interest... Even if that conclusion is based in part on the viewpoint furthered by the projects."

The UC Office of the President and higher education groups have urged Congress and the administration to resolve the funding delays, warning that the disruption threatens America's leadership in science and innovation.