Trump Administration Puts an End to DEI in Business Loans. Here’s Why That’s a Big Deal.

The Trump administration is steadily—and one might say quietly—dismantling the discriminatory DEI deep state.

On Thursday, the Small Business Administration released a proposed rule that would end racial discrimination in federal contracting under the category of being “socially disadvantaged.”

It’s a huge win for those who support equality before the law.

“Under the new rule, individuals will no longer be considered ‘socially disadvantaged,’ and therefore eligible for the 8(a) program, simply because they are a member of a racial minority group,” the Small Business Administration wrote in a statement.

This may sound shocking, but the federal government has been handing out what amounts to race-based small business loans for nearly half a century. President Donald Trump is putting an end to that.

Now, instead of just handing out loans based on race, the SBA plans to keep the program alive but with the criteria of “fact-based evidence of social disadvantage.”

“It will end a system of racial favoritism, restore equal treatment under clear and objective criteria, and keep the 8(a) program open to job creators of every race,” SBA announced. “Importantly, Americans discriminated against by unlawful DEI and race-based practices in the public and private sector can now qualify for 8(a) contracts.”

All are welcome, and that’s not just a slogan.

The Trump administration has done a remarkable job eliminating racialist DEI initiatives from federal policy. As the State Leadership Initiative noted on X, this move by the SBA is just one in a long line of initiatives to bring “fairness back to government contracting” by eliminating a huge amount of fraud and ending claims

U.S. civil rights policy has been warped and racialized for some time, but the problem accelerated under President Joe Biden. His administration essentially took cues from Ibram X. Kendi and other so-called antiracists who insist that colorblind policies are actually worse than direct, explicit racism.

To correct the wrongs of history as they see it, they’ve gone with the “two wrongs make a right” approach and promoted racist policies in the name of eliminating racism.

As Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez wrote in 2024, the Biden administration “jammed DEI into every policy and government department.”

Biden signed an executive order effectively mandating racial hiring in the federal government, though the list of the aggrieved expanded beyond race too.

Biden’s 2021 order on “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility,” his administration announced that it would “advance opportunity for communities that have historically faced employment discrimination” which included “people of color; women; first-generation professionals and immigrants; individuals with disabilities,” among others.

Some of these practices were ruled unconstitutional by the courts but the government continued to skirt federal law.

The 8(a) Business Development Program was one of the dubious programs that was expanded under the previous administration, as SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler noted in here statement about the proposed rule change.

Even after a 2023 ruling that “de facto race-based 8(a) eligibility for certain minority groups was unconstitutional” the Biden administration continued to use the program to favor certain racial groups and handed these loans out like candy.

“From 2021 through 2024, the Biden Administration approved roughly 2,100 new 8(a) firms, compared with just 65 approved to date under the Trump Administration,” the SBA’s announcement noted.

Under Biden the message was clear: white men need not apply. But if you were the “right” race you could get a loan with practically no questions asked.

When would enough discrimination in the name of fixing past discrimination be enough to call it even? The woke legions who brought us these policies would likely say that they would continue when all outcomes are equal. Though they are, of course, highly selective about which unequal outcomes are more worthy of fixing than others.

It feels somewhat ironic that the most extreme version of DEI policies were brought to you by such a mediocre—to be charitable—white, male president. It should be clear now that Biden was propped up as the “moderate” face of an extremely radical regime.

Trump’s election essentially put a halt to this long-term and accelerating perversion of civil rights. Even more impressively, his administration has successfully begun unwinding the DEI tentacles from our government and our society.

Perhaps we will finally be able to say that Americans can expect to be treated according to their merit and their character instead of their skin color. That was the dream, right?