SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of 23 attorneys general filed a comment letter Friday condemning a Trump administration proposal targeting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, calling the amendment unlawful and urging federal officials to withdraw it.
As reported in a Monday press release by the Office of the Attorney General, the letter was filed in response to a notice from the General Services Administration (GSA) in January amending its standard for federal funding applicants and thus requiring recipients of federal funding to comply with the Trump administration’s executive orders regarding DEI.
The said orders refer to “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” as well as “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination,” as reported by the press release.
Federal funding applicants must agree to the amended Financial Assistance General Representations and Certifications in order to register for the federal government’s System for Award Management (SAM.gov), which is a mandatory step in applying for federal funding.
The press release Monday noted that the proposal “imposes unjustified and duplicative burdens on federal funding applicants and recipients, violates federal law, and seeks to threaten federal funding recipients away from conducting lawful activities related to DEI.”
In the letter, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition called for the GSA to withdraw its proposal on these grounds.
They argue that, if implemented, the proposal would require all federal funding recipients to comply with the new certifications, “thereby implicating billions of dollars in federal funding administered by a host of federal agencies under numerous statutory schemes,” (1) the letter states.
According to the letter, the proposal would violate the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), which governs federal agencies’ collection of information from the public, and ensures that the proposed information collection is “the least burdensome necessary” and “not duplicative of information otherwise accessible to the agency.” The coalition argues that the GSA’s proposal fails to explain why the additional certificates are necessary to the agency’s functions, thus violating the PRA (3).
The GSA proposal also “unlawfully bypasses” the Administrative Procedure Act because it exceeds the congressional authority granted to the GSA and does not follow required procedures.
Additionally, due to the vague terms and conditions of the new requirements, the proposal violates the legal constraints imposed by the Constitution’s Spending Clause, which mandates that “federal funding be clear and unambiguous” (8).
According to the coalition’s arguments, the proposal could have “significant adverse impacts on the provision of critical services” (9) due to organizations halting legal services to immigrants out of fear that they somehow violated the new conditions, despite these services being entirely lawful.
“GSA wants to scare grant recipients into halting lawful programs that protect Americans from discrimination and unfair roadblocks,” said Attorney General Bonta, as reported in Monday’s press release. “We will not stand by as GSA oversteps its authority and imposes unnecessary burdens on funding applicants.”
The letter was co-led by Attorney General Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James and signed by the attorneys general from 21 other states.
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