A federal judge accused the Trump administration of racial and LGBTQ discrimination and ordered the president to reissue grants that had been shut down at the National Institutes of Health.
President Donald Trump shut down grants at NIH and other agencies that he found were supporting policies related to far-left ideologies and movements.
‘Have we fallen so low?’ he asked. ‘Have we no shame?’
On Monday, District of Massachusetts Judge William Young said that ending the grants based on opposition to gender ideology or diversity, equity, and inclusion was likely illegal.
“I’ve never seen a record where racial discrimination was so palpable,” said the judge, according to Axios. “I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years. I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.”
Young ordered the NIH to fund 367 grants that had been ended under the new policies of the Trump administration.
“I am hesitant to draw this conclusion, but I have an unflinching obligation to draw it, that this represents racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community,” said the judge.
Attorneys had argued that the cuts to billions of dollars’ worth of grants were “arbitrary” and harmed racial groups as well as LGBTQ members.
The order only renews funding for the grants named in the lawsuit and only while the case continues through the legal process.
RELATED: Trump to freeze federal funds as admin weeds out ‘wokeness’ in budget
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
Young had said that the Supreme Court had struck down affirmative action in a recent ruling but that this did not mean the government had the right to outright discrimination.
“Have we fallen so low?” he asked. “Have we no shame?”
Young was appointed to the court by former President Ronald Reagan.
Trump has made cutting out “woke” federal spending a goal of his second term in office.
“The use of federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and Green New Deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve,” reads a memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget in January.
“This memorandum requires federal agencies to identify and review all federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the president’s policies and requirements,” the memo reads.
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