On January 21, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) signed a joint motion to dismiss an appeal in a lawsuit that sought to allow it to move ahead with its anti-DEI policy. In abandoning its appeal, the agency signaled that it’s effectively stepping back from trying to enforce the policy.
In its February 14, 2025 anti-DEI Dear Colleague letter (DCL), the USDE averred that some schools’ race-based equity programs discriminate against White and Asian students and could result in their federal funding being withdrawn stating that “treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent.”
The Feb. 14 Dear Colleague letter cited the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in SFFA v. Harvard which banned race-conscious college admissions practices, using it as a reason to dismantle other diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in education.
Subsequently, in August 2025 a federal judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction in American Federation of Teachers v. U.S. Department of Education. That injunction temporarily blocked the anti-DEI DCL and a subsequent letter requiring school districts to certify that they do not incorporate DEI in their schools. The USDE appealed that ruling, but has now dropped the appeal.
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