A coalition of conservation organizations sued the Interior Department this week, accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully canceling nearly $14 million in grant funding as part of a politically motivated effort to punish groups perceived to support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) values.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, challenges the Interior Department’s termination of 79 grant agreements in September that funded wildlife monitoring projects and habitat restoration throughout the West.
The groups argue that the grant cancellations violated the First and Fifth amendments, alleging Interior targeted organizations it believed supported or espoused DEI principles or featured statements recognizing Indigenous peoples as the original inhabitants of specific lands, regardless of whether the grants funded such activities. The groups say none of the terminated grants funded DEI initiatives, with some organizations never even having a DEI policy in the first place.
The suit brought by the legal group Democracy Forward against the Interior Department and agency officials, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, seeks injunctive relief to restore the canceled grants.
