Judge Strikes Down Nation’s Oldest Affirmative Action Law in Major Victory for Wisconsin Watchdog Group

Sep 26, 2024
Hayden Ludwig
Lawfare & Courts

No more tipping the scales of justice in the name of woke equity policies

A federal judge’s ruling on Sept. 23 could strike a massive blow against racial and gender quotas in government contracts across the nation, say attorneys for a Wisconsin legal watchdog, in a win for small businesses.

“We believe this affirmative action program may be the oldest in our nation’s history, and possibly the largest,” Rick Esenberg, president of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), the watchdog behind the lawsuit, told Restoration News. “Through this program, the U.S. finances the American transportation system, including highway construction, with a series of race and gender quotas they call ‘goals.’”

The case (MAMCO, et al. v. U.S. Department of Transportation) targeted the Harris-Biden administration’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, which Esenberg points out “was given new life” by President Biden’s $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021 (more commonly called the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law”). The Department of Transportation, which administers the program, says it’s “designed to remedy ongoing discrimination” and “level the playing field.

Biden-Harris’ spending law mandated that 10 percent, or about $37 billion, of government contracts be granted to specific minority groups, “perpetuating the very discrimination it claimed to address,” Esenberg said.

On Monday, Sept. 23, federal judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove ruled against the Department of Transportation that “the federal government cannot classify people in such a manner that violates the principles of equal protection.”

Esenberg hailed the ruling as a major victory for small businesses and entrepreneurs—and a smashing defeat for the Harris-Biden administration’s “woke, racially divisive agenda.” He expects the ruling to soon be expanded nationwide.

(READ MORE: There’s No “Opportunity” in Kamala Harris’ Opportunity Economy)

Hayden Ludwig is Founder and Managing Editor of Restoration News, launched in 2023, and Executive Director for Research at Restoration of America. He specializes in election integrity and dark money, authoring the first investigations into the 2020 election "Zuck Bucks" scandal and unearthing the world's largest dark money network run by Arabella Advisors. He publishes regularly at RealClearPolitics, American Greatness, and the American Conservative.

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