(DOJ Press Release) The Justice Department announced a joint filing with the plaintiff challenging former race-based admissions practices at the U.S. Naval Academy to dismiss the lawsuit based on the federal government’s commitments to end those practices permanently.
The lawsuit challenged race-based admissions at the Academy as unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment.
“This Department is committed to ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity throughout the federal government,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
“We are proud to partner with the Department of Defense to permanently end race-based admissions at the United States Naval Academy and ensure that admission to this prestigious institution is based exclusively on merit.”
The joint filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit also asks that court to vacate the district court decision on appeal, which upheld race-based admissions, because the appeal has become moot.
As explained in the filing, the “Naval Academy changed its admissions policy so that race and ethnicity are no longer considered in any way at any point” and those changes “are intended to be permanent.”
And the policy “changes reflect the judgment of the United States—based on the military’s experience and expertise, and after reviewing the record in this case—that the consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions at the Naval Academy does not promote military cohesiveness, lethality, recruitment, retention, or legitimacy; national security; or any other governmental interest.”
Combatting unlawful discrimination is a top priority of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. Additional information about the Civil Division is available at https://www.justice.gov/civil.
Read the full filing HERE.
Students for Fair Admissions v US Naval Academy, Joint Motion to Dismiss and Vacate (pdf)
DOJ asks court to toss Naval Academy affirmative action lawsuit (Washington Examiner)
The Justice Department and a conservative legal group have jointly asked a federal appeals court to dismiss a challenge to race-based admissions at the U.S. Naval Academy, citing the military’s permanent end to the practice in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
In a filing Monday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the DOJ and Students for Fair Admissions requested that the case be dismissed as moot and that the district court’s earlier ruling upholding the academy’s policy be vacated.
“This Department is committed to ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity throughout the federal government,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a press release. “We are proud to partner with the Department of Defense to permanently end race-based admissions at the United States Naval Academy and ensure that admission to this prestigious institution is based exclusively on merit.”
The affirmative action lawsuit, filed by the same group that successfully challenged Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s admissions policies at the Supreme Court, alleged the Naval Academy violated the Fifth Amendment by using race as a factor in admissions decisions. A federal judge upheld the policy in late 2024, citing national security interests and deferring to the executive branch’s military judgment.
That justification no longer stands, according to the joint motion.
Following Trump’s January executive order banning racial preferences in the military, the Pentagon directed all service academies to adopt colorblind, merit-only admissions practices. The Naval Academy complied in February, with its dean of admissions formalizing a policy that explicitly bars consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex in candidate evaluation.
The filing states that the Defense Department has since ratified the changes as permanent.
“The Naval Academy changed its admissions policy so that race and ethnicity are no longer considered in any way at any point,” the government wrote. The department also determined that using race in admissions “does not promote military cohesiveness, lethality, recruitment, retention, or legitimacy.”
Edward Blum, president of SFFA, welcomed the government’s shift in policy in a statement earlier this year. “Racial discrimination is wrong and racial classifications have no place at our nation’s military academies,” he said.
Blum has long fought to end affirmative action, not just in public and private universities but also at military academies. The move for the government to dismiss the case shows an alignment between the DOJ and conservative groups not seen during former President Joe Biden’s term, when the Biden DOJ notably sought to defend affirmative action policies at military schools.
The latest motion asks the appeals court to vacate the district court ruling to prevent it from having future legal weight. The Trump administration’s policy reversal and resulting mootness justify that outcome under standard precedent, the filing argues.
This shift comes as the administration dismantles numerous diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the federal government.
Trump’s order earlier this year targeted federal DEI programs, including in hiring and education, and led to a sharp reduction in Education Department staff.
Military academies such as the Air Force Academy and West Point are also facing similar lawsuits from SFFA. In April, the two schools announced they would stop using affirmative action in admissions policies.
Despite the Trump administration withdrawing these policies, all SFFA military academy lawsuits remain active. The Naval Academy suit could be the first of Blum’s cases dismissed.
Leave a Comment