The city of Portland has steadily tried to resist federal policy directives from the Trump administration, particularly regarding immigration, civil rights, and protections for LGBTQ+ residents—until now. 

On Wednesday, City Administrator Michael Jordan’s office announced a series of “tough decisions” city leaders are facing, as they risk losing hundreds of millions in federal funds if they don’t comply with anti-DEI and equity mandates from the White House. 

“Like local governments across the United States, Portland is facing challenging decisions about how to respond to the Trump Administration's demands that cities eliminate some policies and programs designed to help Portlanders who are people of color, women, and other oppressed groups overcome hundreds of years of systemic discrimination,” Jordan stated in a news release Wednesday. “Executive orders signed by President Donald J. Trump have reshaped the legal landscape for cities that operate programs focused on diversity, equity and inclusion. In particular, the federal government could withhold grants from cities whose DEI initiatives are out of compliance with the executive orders.”

Jordan said the city is poised to accept several new federal grants, but it won’t actually receive the funds unless it certifies compliance with recent executive orders. 

One of the first action items from Trump after he took office for his second term this year was to end all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at the federal level. In a January 20 executive order, Trump specifically called out “environmental justice” programs and any “chief equity officers” positions for elimination. He ordered the Office of Management and Budget to “coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs,” referring to equity efforts created by the Biden administration. The order also demanded an end to all equity-related grants and programs. 

As Trump works to roll back decades of investment in efforts to improve things like access to public spaces for people with disabilities and funding for programs that help historically underserved populations, Portland now finds itself in the crosshairs.

Portland’s city administrator says the city currently manages $387 million from 126 active federal grants. The vast majority (over 90 percent) of the funds have gone toward housing and transportation. Last year, Portland received almost $100 million in federal grants.

The city and the state also rely on federal grants to fund schools, emergency response programs, freeways, and social safety net programs, among other things. 

“We will honor our progress,” Jordan stated. “The equity work we have done together is meaningful and has changed lives. We will continue serving our community.”

Jordan says no decisions have been made yet. Over the next few weeks, the Portland City Council and Mayor Keith Wilson will meet to “explore possible paths forward, including legal avenues and policy options, with care and resolve.”

District 1 Councilor Candace Avalos, who represents east Portland, vowed to remain “unapologetically committed to justice” as the city charts its path forward.

“Let me be clear: I will fight for Portland,” Avalos said in a statement released by her office Wednesday afternoon. “These federal demands are an attack on the very values that define who we are—our commitment to equity, to justice, and to repairing harm that has been done to communities of color, to women, to LGBTQ+ folks, to people with disabilities, and to those who have been pushed to the margins for generations. Portland cannot and will not go backwards.”