BALTIMORE — A busy U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday stayed yet another injunction issued by a Maryland Federal District Court judge.
The latest reversal stems from a lawsuit filed against the Trump Administration over its termination of DEI related grants for teachers.
District judge Julie Rubin, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, who formerly sat on the Baltimore City Circuit Court, previously ordered the U.S. Department of Education to restart three different grants to a trio of organizations including the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), the National Center for Teacher Residencies (NCTR), and the Maryland Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE).
The three grants in question include the Education Department's Teacher Quality Partnership Program (TQP), the Supporting Effective Educator Development Program (SEED), and the Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program (TSL).
Trump and company argued past grant recipients prioritized initiatives dealing with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which he's vowed to dismantle.
Rubin disagreed, ruling the Department of Education violated the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), which requires funding cuts to go through the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), before going into effect.
RELATED: Federal judge in Maryland orders U.S. Department of Education to keep issuing DEI related grants
The APA mandates adequate notice, allowing for public comment, prior to any modifications being finalized.
Since the Executive Branch normally has discretion over how cabinet agencies disperse funds, Trump's lawyers opined notice wasn't necessary, and therefore not subject to judicial review.
Around the same time this case was filed, a similar lawsuit was going on in California Federal District Court, with the same results.
It was the U.S. Supreme Court, however, that stepped in to halt that ruling, prompting the DOJ to go before the Fourth Circuit Appellate Court, seeking a stay of Rubin's order.
On Thursday the unanimous three judge panel, including two Trump appointees, Allison Jones Rushing and Marvin Quattlebaum, granted the stay, putting Rubin's ruling on hold while litigation continues.
This is the fourth time in a very short period of time the Fourth Circuit has overturned a Maryland District judge.
Just yesterday a separate panel cleared the way for Trump to carry out mass firings of probationary workers at 20 federal agencies, overruling Judge James Bredar, appointed by former President Barack Obama.
Last month the appeals court paused another Obama appointed judge, Theodore Chuang's, directive ousting Elon Musk and DOGE from USAID.
About a week before that, in a lawsuit brought by Baltimore City, Judge Adam Abelson, a Biden appointee, barred the White House from freezing and withholding federal grants from government contractors involved in DEI efforts.
Nearly three weeks later the Fourth Circuit halted that order as well.
These decisions come as Trump and his allies heavily criticize district level judges who've tried blocking the administration's agenda, leading to concerns over separation of powers.