Fourth Circuit prevents firing of 19 intelligence officers assigned to DEI programs

July 2 (Reuters) – A divided federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration could not proceed with firing 19 intelligence officers who had been assigned to positions related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives.

A 2-1 panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction that a lower-court judge issued last year requiring the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence to provide them an opportunity to seek reassignment to new positions and appeal their terminations internally.

U.S. Circuit Judge Nicole Berner, writing for the majority, said that among the promises of the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment “is the requirement that no person be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

“This promise of due process has been construed to require federal government agencies to adhere to their own binding regulations,” she wrote.

OFFICERS FIRED TO IMPLEMENT TRUMP ORDER

She said CIA Director John Ratcliffe and former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard fired them to implement an executive order Trump signed shortly after returning to the White House in January 2025, aimed at eliminating DEI programs throughout the federal government.

She said they were terminated despite binding regulations that require the agencies to allow employees a chance to be reassigned instead of being fired and allow them to pursue internal appeals as long as they were not being terminated because their access to classified information had been revoked.

The CIA and ODNI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The 19 career employees had all been temporarily assigned to roles related to DEI. They were among 58 CIA and ODNI officers who were placed on paid administrative leave because they had been assigned to DEI programs and remain on leave today.

“We’re very grateful for the decision of the court,” said Kevin Carroll, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “It recognizes that intelligence officers have due process rights under the Fifth Amendment.”

Both judges in the majority were appointed by Democratic presidents.

U.S. Circuit Judge Paul Niemeyer, an appointee of Republican President George H.W. Bush, dissented, saying the regulations were “irrelevant” and that the agencies’ directors were given “unfettered discretion” by Congress to terminate employees.

“The preliminary injunction entered in this case is unlawful and should have been promptly vacated,” Niemeyer said. “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.”

Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; additional reporting by Jonathan Landay; editing by Rod Nickel