The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and the Center for Individual Rights filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Nov. 17 regarding remaining federal DEI programs, according to a WILL press release.
The lawsuit specifically targets the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, which sets a quota that ensures a percentage of federal government purchases goes towards minority-owned companies, managing vice president and deputy counsel at WILL Dan Lennington said. This regulation, the socially disadvantaged regulation that is being challenged, applies to other programs, Lennington said.
“This regulation applies to dozens and dozens of federal programs that distribute benefits and services to people, and it gives preferences to people who are so-called ‘socially disadvantaged,’” Lennington said. “But, that’s just a proxy for race discrimination, it’s basically a code-word for race.”
WILL is suing to eliminate this regulation and ensure federal programs, services and contracts are facilitated in a race-neutral manner, according to Lennington. He also said that the Trump administration has already eliminated two-thirds of federal DEI programs, and WILL is unsure why it has kept the remaining one-third.
According to Lennington, the Trump administration provided WILL the explanation that certain programs must continue since they are required by law, and the only way to end them is for someone to sue. WILL currently has five pending lawsuits against the federal government for DEI programs — four of which are being settled and the fifth is this one, Lennington said.
One of the other lawsuits that WILL filed includes the Faust v. Rollins case that involves several U.S. Dept. of Agriculture programs that use race and sex as determinants for financial assistance allocation, according to WILL.
“Our view is that the U.S. Constitution prohibits race discrimination by the federal government, state and local governments,” Lennington said. “So anytime race is used for any reason by any government agency, that’s what we challenge, and we have a very high success rate in court — we almost never lose that argument.”
WILL is representing Youth America’s Foundation, a national organization of college students, some of whom were unable to apply for certain federal programs, according to the WILL press release.
The use of the term “socially disadvantaged individuals” grew during the Biden administration, which established dozens of these programs under the American Rescue Plan Act, Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, according to the WILL press release.
This case could be used as precedent for programs, including contracts, scholarships and employment, at universities like UW that involve the term “socially disadvantaged individuals,” according to Lennington. He said this case would add to the weight of authority, stating that universities cannot use race as a factor in their programs.
“The time for racial preferences in public policy is over,” College Republicans of UW Madison said in an email statement. “The government should treat all citizens equally.”
Several states use the same language that WILL is trying to declare unconstitutional for many activities, including building infrastructure, government purchases and benefit allocation, according to Lennington. This case could require those programs to become race-neutral as well, Lennington said.
This definition also applies to college students seeking U.S. government fellowships, according to Lennington. Lennington said this case would impact the Intelligence and Cybersecurity Diversity Fellowship, a program limited to certain minority groups.
WILL hopes to reach a settlement, which is being done through a federal court in Louisiana, with the federal government in the first quarter of 2026 — the federal government usually resolves cases relatively quickly, according to Lennington.
