A divided federal appeals court ruled on July 2 that the Trump administration may not for the time being dismiss 19 career intelligence officers that the Biden administration directed to participate in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The firings of the intelligence officers at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) were carried out as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to end DEI-related practices in the federal government.
Trump, who has called DEI initiatives “illegal and immoral discrimination programs,” issued Executive Orders 14151 and 14173 in January 2025 in an effort to eliminate DEI in the government.
These policies “threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society,” Trump said in Executive Order 14173.
The Biden administration had assigned the intelligence officers to work on DEI projects in the areas of hiring, retention, and advancement of employees.
Trenga had ruled that the employees who sued the government had the right to appeal their dismissals to CIA Director John Ratcliffe or then-ODNI chief Tulsi Gabbard.
The judge said under the agencies’ regulations the intelligence officers had the right to be considered for alternate roles in the intelligence community. He also said they should remain on administrative leave with full pay and benefits while the litigation plays out.
In the majority opinion in the new appeals court ruling, U.S. Circuit Judge Nicole Berner said that the employees had been denied due process under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“The promise of due process has been construed to require federal government agencies to adhere to their own binding regulations,” Berner said.
The injunction was “narrow” and required the agencies to “comply with the two provisions of the Termination Regulation at issue in the litigation.”
The injunction does not prevent the agencies from firing the employees, but prevents them from doing so without notifying the court in advance, which would give the court an opportunity to verify agency compliance with the regulation, she said.
The panel left the injunction intact because “the Agencies had already indicated that they had no intention to provide the rights assured by the Termination Regulation.”
“The court can only protect the rights of the Intelligence Officers if it has the opportunity to confirm that the Agency followed the Termination Regulation,” Berner said.
U.S. Circuit Judge Paul Niemeyer filed a dissenting opinion.
“The district court’s and the majority’s holdings, I conclude, fail with double F’s,” he said.
Niemeyer said the regulations were “irrelevant” and that Congress gave the agency heads “unfettered discretion” to fire employees.
He described the injunction as “unlawful,” and said it should have been vacated.
“Now, unfortunately, that can only be done by the Supreme Court, which I can hope will consider this wrongful intrusion, which has far-reaching and unfortunate precedential effects,” Niemeyer added.
Attorney Kevin Carroll, who represents the plaintiffs, said the majority opinion “recognizes that intelligence officers have due process rights under the Fifth Amendment.”
The Epoch Times reached out for comment to the U.S. Department of Justice, which represents the agencies in the legal case. No reply was received by publication time.
