Republican Attorney General Calls For End To Federal DEI Program That ‘Wastes Money On Purpose’

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador called for an end to a “discriminatory” federal program that costs states millions of dollars by pushing them to go with more expensive “diverse” contractors.

In a Wednesday court filing joined by 20 states, Labrador urged a federal judge to accept a proposal from the Trump administration to end an affirmative action program that favors minority- and women-owned businesses for state infrastructure projects. The initiative, known as the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, set aside $37 billion under the Biden administration for “disadvantaged” groups. 

The program, which has been in effect since 1983, was originally challenged in September 2023 by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on behalf of two Indiana-based companies that claim they lost business opportunities based on the policy. The Biden administration fought back against the challenge, but the Trump administration has asked a judge to side with the complaint and disband the program. 

In an amicus brief, Labrador and the other plaintiffs urged Federal Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, a George W. Bush nominee, to accept a consent decree proposed by the Trump administration that would end race and sex as components to qualify as a “disadvantaged business.” 

“This discrimination is expensive. It routinely requires States to reject the lowest bid on a project in favor of a less-efficient DBE-compliant bidder, and even when States can choose the lowest bid, the price is usually inflated because contractors have to use DBE-compliant subcontractors,” the filing says. “The DBE program wastes money on purpose. When supposedly disadvantaged entities are the lowest bidders, the program has no effect-its whole point is to force States to hire disadvantaged entities when they are not the lowest bidders.”

Labrador told The Daily Wire that the rule has cost his state at least $15.2 million over a 44-month period. In one instance, he said that Idaho had to take a $2.7 million bid instead of a $2.2 million bid. 

“This federal program has operated like a racial quota system for decades,” he said. “Federal bureaucrats forced states like Idaho to reject better bids from qualified contractors, wasting roughly $15 million in just a few years by requiring states to award a certain percentage of contracts based on race and gender instead of merit.”

A 2009 MIT study found that affirmative action in contracting can increase the cost when comparing state contracts without preferences to federal contracts with preferences. The study found that bids without preferences were at least 5.6% lower than the preferential contract. 

Other states that signed onto the legal filing include North Dakota, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and the Arizona state legislature. 

“While the Biden Administration defended this system in court, President Trump is working to restore equality under the law,” Labrador said. “My office will continue fighting any federal program that forces states to treat citizens as members of groups rather than individuals with equal constitutional rights.”