Demonstrators participate in a recent "Hands Off" protest in Columbia, S.C. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
The DEI-slashing effort was met with a wave of court challenges, including a lawsuit filed by the National Education Association, the group's New Hampshire affiliate chapter, and the Center for Black Educator Development, who challenged the case in New Hampshire's federal court.
Two other U.S. courts are slated to hear similar challenges to the Education Department's effort, with one case in Washington, D.C., expected to be heard as early as this week.
McCafferty's ruling stopped short of issuing a nationwide injunction to block the policy in all 50 states.
Rather, it blocks the Trump administration from halting the disbursement of Title I funds to any schools that employ or contract with plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
"The right to speak freely and to promote diversity of ideas and programs is ... one of the chief distinctions that sets us apart from totalitarian regimes," McCafferty said in her 82-page opinion, adding that the actions taken by the Education Department "threate[n] to erode these foundational principles."
TRUMP URGES SUPREME COURT TO LET TRANS MILITARY BAN PROCEED
President Donald Trump holds an education-related executive order in the Oval Office as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Education Secretary Linda McMahon watch. (AP/Alex Brandon)
She also said the Trump administration failed to provide the court with a sufficient definition of the DEI programs that were at risk as a result of the anti-DEI push.
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The order comes after the Trump administration and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit reached a short-term agreement to delay the policy from taking force.
That agreement was slated to expire Thursday, prompting the court to rule on the matter.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-partially-blocks-trumps-effort-deny-funding-pro-dei-public-schools