Filings Highlight Significant Harms by Trump-Vance Administration to Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses

Frankfort, KY – A diverse group of states, municipalities and local officials, veterans, and small businesses filed amicus briefs urging the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Kentucky to reject a proposed consent order that would undermine the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program—an essential initiative aimed at remedying discrimination, which expands opportunity for minority- and women-owned businesses in federally funded transportation projects.

The amicus support comes in Mid-America Milling Co. v. U.S. Department of Transportation, a case in which the Trump-Vance administration is attempting to gut the DBE Program through an unprecedented backroom agreement with the plaintiffs. In January, a group of DBEs and organizations that represent them moved to intervene in the case to defend the DBE Program. The court granted their motion to intervene just one week before the proposed agreement was submitted to the court.

The briefs, filed by a coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia, a group of local governments and officials, Minority Veterans of America, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises of America (DBEs of America), oppose the entry of the consent order. 

“This proposed order threatens to dismantle a vital civil rights program that helps remedy discrimination without considering the harms it would cause to the very businesses and communities it was designed to support,” said Audrey Wiggins, Legal Director at Democracy Forward, which represents a coalition of DBEs and organizations that represent them, which intervened to defend the DBE Program. “We are grateful for the support of states, cities, veterans, and small businesses who have made clear that communities across the country reject the idea that equity programs can be undone through political maneuvering behind closed doors.”

The states’ brief argues that the proposed consent order would unlawfully interfere with state-run transportation projects that rely on the DBE Program. It was filed by Maryland and joined by the attorneys general of Illinois, Washington, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

The local governments’ brief warns that the proposed order would harm local governments’ authority to address systemic racial exclusion and would unfairly condition access to federal transportation funds. It was submitted by a coalition of cities, counties, and local officials, including from Tennessee, Texas,  Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Illinois. 

The Minority Veterans of America’s brief focuses on the discrimination faced by veterans of color and women veterans who own small businesses, and the vital role of the DBE Program in helping these business owners access contracting opportunities that have historically been closed to them. 

The DBEs of America’s brief, submitted on behalf of an organization that advocates for the nearly 50,000 certified DBEs nationwide, highlights the continuing barriers that minority- and women-owned businesses face in competing for federally funded contracts. The brief details how the DBE Program has helped break down discrimination in the construction and infrastructure sectors—and argues that eliminating it without a full evidentiary record would be both unjust and harmful.

The coalition is represented by Democracy Forward, the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP.

###

Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org