EUGENE, Ore. – A federal court has declared the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)’s termination of $14 million in grant funding to organizations advancing conservation work in communities around the country was likely unconstitutional, a big win for the coalition of nonprofit organizations that filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful and haphazard cancellation of grants issued by the DOI and its sub-agencies. Unless the court order is stayed by a higher court in the next seven days, DOI must restore the coalition members’ previous grant agreements on March 19.
On September 23, 2025, DOI suddenly issued termination notices to organizations doing vital work to protect and manage the nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage in communities around the country, including the Institute for Applied Ecology, The Institute for Bird Populations, and the Mid Klamath Watershed Council. Democracy Forward and Tonkon Torp filed a lawsuit on behalf of the three organizations in the U.S. District Court in Oregon on December 19, seeking the court’s help in restoring the grants. Today’s order prohibits DOI from targeting plaintiffs’ grant funding for political reasons, and restores funding to the status quo as the case continues.
“Today’s ruling allows us to get back to conserving and restoring native species and habitats in partnership with federal agencies,” said Keith Norris, Executive Director for the Institute for Applied Ecology. “We are grateful the court has recognized the politically motivated and arbitrary nature of these illegal terminations, and we look forward to once again delivering on-the-ground conservation that supports species, ecosystems, and rural communities.”
“We are grateful to Democracy Forward and Tonkon Torp for their efforts on this case, and excited to be able to return to work on the terminated projects — for the benefit of bird populations on public lands, and so that the investments federal agencies have already made in these projects can yield the intended benefits,” said Rodney Siegel, Executive Director of The Institute for Bird Populations.
“We look forward to continuing work on these projects. These active management efforts directly benefit both rural economies and regional ecosystems. We are grateful for the work of our legal team, as well as the ruling of the court, to support our work on the ground and in our communities, and in upholding our fundamental, nonpartisan rights to freedom of speech,” said Luna Latimer, Director of the Mid Klamath Watershed Council.
As explained in the original complaint, on the same day as the grant terminations were issued in September, DOI coordinated with online publication The Daily Caller to publicize cancelling grants awarded to organizations that were perceived to be espousing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values, or that featured statements recognizing Indigenous peoples as the original inhabitants of specific lands on a group’s website. In posts on social media from Interior and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and an online article, administration officials pointed to grant recipients “proclaim[ing] diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) values” as motivation for cancelling their federal funding. None of the terminated agreements were implementing or otherwise funding DEI initiatives. These terminations violated the First Amendment with clear viewpoint discrimination. The court noted the defendants’ “argument that they terminated the programs for cost-cutting reasons absent any DEI factors falls apart” when compared to the evidence.
The case highlights the sloppy and poor execution of the grant cancellations by the Trump-Vance administration. One affected grantee, IBP, has never had a DEI policy. Its grants may have been cancelled due to frequent references on its website to “diversity” of bird species, or IBP’s archived job posts encouraging diverse applicants. In other examples, grants that had already expired or that were in the process of closing-out were issued cancellation notices, while other grants were suddenly stopped just weeks after renewal. As the court found, it appears that DOI’’s actions were “based on a decision to punish any organization with any connection to DEI speech.”
“This case demonstrates the administration’s haphazard rush to punish people and organizations who may not align with the president’s political views. Interior’s actions violate the First Amendment and betray foundational principles of our democracy. Democracy Forward is honored to represent our clients to stop the Trump-Vance administration from threatening the important conservation work throughout the nation,” said Cortney Robinson Henderson, Senior Counsel at Democracy Forward, who presented the oral argument.
The case is IAE, et. al. v. Burgum et. al. and the legal team at Democracy Forward on this case includes Cortney Robinson Henderson, Pablo Moraga, Steven Bressler, and Robin Thurston. The legal team at Tonkon Torp includes Anna Sortun and Will Gent.
Read today’s order here and the original complaint here.
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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.
