WASHINGTON—Former federal workers in D.C. have come together to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the unlawful firing of multiple employees over accusations of their work being a part of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. This comes as Trump has cut the jobs of almost 12% of the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce since the start of his second term.
The lawsuit highlights that the firings of these federal workers are based on Trump’s internal war against his perceived political enemies, which include people of color, women, trans people, and others. Many of these workers were not associated with direct DEI initiatives, which their lawsuit alleges indicates the president fired some employees solely because of their identities and political affiliations unrelated to any work.
This directly violates not only the First Amendment but also employment protections within Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, their case argues.
Notably, Trump compiled a list of supposed DEI programs within the government in November 2024, prior to his inauguration. Since then, he has spent much of his second term attempting to dismantle DEI inside and outside the federal government.
Executive Order 14151 was signed on Jan. 20 with the clear goal of terminating all DEI programs within the government, on the basis that they are “discriminatory and wasteful,” according to the White House.
Trump collaborated with billionaire Elon Musk in slashing many of these supposedly DEI-related jobs through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts, which claimed to be designed to reduce government expenditures.
The residents of Washington, D.C., saw some of the most direct damage from Trump’s attacks on federal jobs. The metro area of the DMV is home to one of the largest Black populations in the country, and 13% of D.C.’s population is employed in federal government jobs.
Black people in D.C. make up 29% of the federal workforce in the city, which means they are some of the most vulnerable populations to Trump’s mass firings.
With a worsening job market and a declining economy, these federal job cuts exacerbate not only the rising unemployment rate but also create a higher risk of poverty for many families who were reliant on federal work to keep them afloat.
The first quarter of 2025 had already seen Black unemployment in D.C. increase to 9.9% compared to the 2.6% white unemployment in the same city. The numbers have worsened since then.
DEI is essentially a set of frameworks that strive to ensure proper representation in spaces like education and the workplace, addressing structural issues and barriers that impact marginalized communities and protecting those communities from discrimination.
In terms of federal jobs, DEI helps ensure that marginalized communities not only have equal and fair access to these positions but also trains everyone in those workspaces on how to avoid and prevent discriminatory practices.
The Republican Party tends to misconstrue DEI as either “reverse oppression” against the white majority or as an attack on merit-based hiring practices. The fact is that DEI isn’t a new type of legal framework but instead is a strengthening of previously-established laws, some of which date as far back as the Civil Rights era.
Removing DEI frameworks only removes the small step towards proper equity and fair opportunity that was being fought for during the Civil Rights Movement.
The American Civil Liberties Union of D.C. has been supporting the federal workers in their lawsuit. The ACLU was founded in the 1920s as a nonprofit civil rights organization that focuses on providing legal assistance in cases where civil liberties are at risk of violation. The lawsuit was filed on Dec. 3 as Fell V. Trump, but a trial date has yet to be confirmed.
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