The US supreme court is letting the Trump administration temporarily freeze $65m in teacher-training grants that would promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in a 5-4 decision.

The decision came down on Friday afternoon, with five of the court’s conservatives – Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh – in the majority. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson all dissented.

In the unsigned opinion, the court said that the states made it clear “that they have the financial wherewithal to keep their programs running”, but the Trump administration had a strong case that it would not be able to reclaim any of the funds spent while the lower court’s order remained in place.

Friday’s order came after eight states – California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin – sued over the withdrawn grants, which were supposed to fund teacher recruitment. The Trump administration canceled the funds, claiming the programs included DEI materials and were in violation of the president’s executive orders.

A federal judge in Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order against the administration in March, which would have stopped the termination of the grants in question until the lawsuit is resolved, finding that the states were likely to win their claim.

The administration made its case to the supreme court that federal courts were acting beyond their authority, “by ordering the executive branch to restore lawfully terminated grants across the government, keep paying for programs that the executive branch views as inconsistent with the interests of the United States, and send out the door taxpayer money that may never be clawed back”, Scotusblog reported back in March.