Filing Argues the Proposal Would Eliminate a Vital Tool to Help Remedy Discrimination in Transportation Contracting

Frankfort, KY — A coalition of minority- and women-owned businesses and trade organizations represented by Democracy Forward, the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Wyatt, Tarrant, & Combs LLP  is defending the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program, which is facing significant undermining by the Trump-Vance administration. The coalition filed its opposition today to a proposed consent order that would seriously impair the program and silence the voices of those most affected by its dismantling.

The proposed agreement—reached between the plaintiffs and the federal government in Mid-America Milling Co. v. Department Of Transportation—seeks to impose sweeping and permanent restrictions on the DBE Program, potentially blocking state and local governments from using race- or gender-conscious contracting goals and setting a dangerous precedent that would tie the hands of future administrations. And it does so, under the banner of a court order– giving these restrictions the full weight of a court order behind an effort to limit equity-focused programs that are far beyond the facts of this case.  

The coalition argues that the proposed order is legally deficient, unfairly negotiated, inconsistent with decades of court rulings and congressional reauthorizations affirming the DBE Program, and a threat to thousands of minority- and women-owned businesses that rely on the DBE Program to access opportunities in a historically exclusionary industry.

“The DBE Program is essential to helping remedy discrimination in federal contracting, and attempts to undermine it through a court order, while excluding the voices of scores of small businesses, is patently undemocratic,” said Brooke Menschel, Senior Counsel at Democracy Forward. “We’re in court to stop this attack and to help ensure that minority- and women-owned businesses can continue to take steps to compete on a level playing field.”

“This proposed order is not a compromise—it’s an unfair, unreasonable, and inadequate scheme that harms the very businesses the DBE Program is meant to support,” said Sarah von der Lippe, Counsel at the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund. “It attempts to sidestep the courts, the facts, and the law, to deny minority- and women-owned businesses a fighting chance to succeed in spite of discrimination.”

“Efforts to erase this program without evidence, process, or consent are fundamentally unlawful,” said Douglas L. McSwain of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP. “This proposed agreement attempts to make permanent policy decisions through legal shortcuts—and we are urging the Court to reject it. Minority- and women-owned businesses deserve a fair chance to defend a program that has helped open doors in an industry where discrimination still persists.”

The coalition—formed by the National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC), Women First National Legislative Committee, Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC), Women Construction Owners & Executives Illinois Chapter (WCOE Illinois), Atlantic Meridian Contracting Corp., and Upstate Steel, Inc.—was granted the right to intervene in the case last month to defend their direct stake in the outcome. 

“Our businesses face real, ongoing discrimination, and the DBE Program is one of the few federal efforts that helps level the field,” said Wendell R. Stemley, President of NAMC. “Trying to dismantle this program in the shadows is a betrayal—not just of minority contractors, but of the country’s commitment to fairness.”

“This proposed order would silence the voices of tens of thousands of women- and minority-owned businesses that rely on the DBE Program as one of the only mechanisms available to them to help support themselves and their families,” said Joann Payne of the Women First National Legislative Committee. “We’ve worked too hard and too long to be excluded from the courthouse, too.”

“The DBE Program isn’t just a policy—it’s a pathway for diverse businesses to contribute meaningfully to infrastructure, innovation, and job creation,” said Eboni Wimbush, President & CEO of the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC). “This rushed and unfair consent order would gut that progress, threaten the economic vitality, and undermine the growth of opportunities in local communities across the country. We will not be sidelined.”

“We didn’t fight our way into this industry just to be erased by a behind-the-scenes deal,” said Theresa Kern of WCOE Illinois. “The DBE Program has given women and minorities a fragile foothold in construction, where barriers still run deep. Taking that away without even hearing from the people it impacts is indefensible.”

“Eliminating the DBE Program would severely hurt small businesses like ours that have spent years building capacity in a system that’s only just begun to have any entry points at all,” said Ken Canty of Atlantic Meridian Contracting Corporation. “This program was never about handouts—it’s about fair access. We’ve earned our place, and the court already recognized that we should be allowed to defend it.”

“We’ve faced more closed doors than open ones in this industry, and the DBE Program has helped change that,” said Lauren Chmielowiec of Upstate Steel, Inc. “Wiping it out through an unfair agreement tells women- and minority-owned businesses that our progress doesn’t matter. We deserve the chance to be heard.”

The case is Mid-America Milling Co. v. U.S. Department of Transportation, and the coalition is represented by Democracy Forward, the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund (MBELDEF), and Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP. 

Read the filing here.

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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