On March 10, 2025, Judge Adam B. Abelson of the US District Court for the District of Maryland issued a clarified preliminary injunction to address the question of whether the previous injunction applied to entities beyond the defendants named in the lawsuit.
Following the court's original February 21, 2025, injunction, the plaintiffs sought clarification on whether the order enjoined only the named defendants (President Trump in his official capacity; the Office of Management and Budget; the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, Interior, Commerce, Agriculture, Energy, and Transportation along with their respective heads in their official capacities; and the National Science Foundation), or if it also extended to other federal executive agencies, departments, and commissions (and their subdivisions, agents, and officers) not expressly named in the case.
Despite the defendants' opposition, the court held that the injunction binds not only the named defendants, excluding the president, but also applies to all other federal executive branch agencies, departments, and commissions, as well as their heads, officers, agents, and subdivisions subject to the directions outlined in the executive orders.
The court concluded that the broad scope of the injunction is appropriate because the plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on the merits, arguing that the Challenged Provisions (a defined term) of these executive orders constitute facially unconstitutional violations of the First and Fifth Amendments. It further held that limiting the injunction to only the named defendants would fail to provide plaintiffs complete relief, as it would expose them to the same potential constitutional violations enacted by one of the many unnamed federal executive agencies.
The defendants' appeal of the preliminary injunction is currently pending before the Fourth Circuit. The initial briefing is expected to be on April 8, 2025.
For more detailed background information, please refer to our previous client alert: Court Blocks Enforcement of Key Provisions in Anti-DEI Executive Orders: What Private Sector Entities Need to Know.
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