Judge grants Fresno a restraining order against Trump in fight over ‘woke’ terms
A federal judge granted Fresno a temporary restraining order on Tuesday against the Trump Administration in a courtroom fight over grant funding and so-called “woke” language.
Fresno and several other U.S. cities and counties argued executive orders from President Donald Trump are too vague and could cause irreparable harm to the municipalities if they led federal agencies to withhold grant money already awarded by Congress.
San Francisco-based Chief District Judge Richard Seeborg granted the request for a 14-day restraining order, which can be extended, and said he expected to extend it to at least 28 days. The attorneys will reconvene to argue their cases in the meantime.
“The uncertainty that has been injected into this process is significant,” Seeborg said while making his ruling.
Fresno received an email last week from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that directed the city to remove all references to “equity,” “environmental justice” and all transgender references from its plans within three days. The plan in question was rejected last Friday.
HUD pointed to phrases in the city’s Community Development Block Grant like, “emergency shelter for all genders and their dependent children who are fleeing domestic violence.” The city cannot use grant money to “promote gender ideology” as defined in an executive order from President Donald Trump in January, the lawsuit said.
Some municipalities were warned against referencing “elective abortion” in any plans.
Along with HUD, the lawsuit named the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Transportation and several other federal agencies.
There is significant money at stake. Fresno was awarded $11.7 million from HUD, more than $100 million by the USDOT and $2.2 million from the EPA, according to the complaint.
Fresno Yosemite International Airport is also at risk of losing about $50 million already awarded for improvements, as well as another $100 million in anticipated money amid major upgrades to the terminal and air-control tower.
Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz said in a statement that the federal government had put the cities in “an impossible position” of violating the Constitution by accepting the conditions or forfeiting millions in grants.
“Forgoing those funds would have been devastating to the city’s budget, safety and our local infrastructure,” Janz said. “No administration, Democratic or Republican, may lawfully impose political ideology on local governments by holding congressionally approved funding hostage.”
The attorney representing the federal government, Charlie Merritt, argued the municipalities should make the changes and file disputes through the the Court of Federal Claims rather than get a restraining order from the Northern District Court of California.
He also argued none of the deadlines were pressing and that municipalities could resubmit plans in many of the cases in dispute.
The attorney arguing the case for the plaintiffs, Ryan McGinley-Stempel, told the judge the changing rules put his clients in danger of losing funding.
“The ground is shifting on a daily basis beneath my clients’ feet,” he said in court.
The only municipality in the lawsuit in that region of California was the city of Eureka. Others include St. Paul, Minnesota; Monroe County, New York; Sacramento County; and the city of South Lake Tahoe in California.
This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM.
