The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed a new Title VI civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), identifying four states that are flouting the Trump Administration’s directive to end DEI in highway construction.
The complaint describes new schemes by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). The agencies appear to be shifting federal money away from some projects, making them exclusively funded by state tax dollars. The gambit seeks to avoid the Trump Administration’s new rule prohibiting racial quotas in federally funded projects. But Title VI, which prohibits race discrimination, applies to all operations of all state DOTs, even if a particular project is funded without federal money.
The Quote: WILL Vice President and Deputy Counsel, Dan Lennington, stated, “The Trump Administration took an important step to end race discrimination in federally funded highway projects. Now some states are flouting that rule by paying for some roadbuilding projects without any federal money. But federal law prohibits this shell game, and the Trump Administration should enforce the law against these states.”
More On Our Legal Claim: On October 3, 2025, USDOT published its Interim Final Rule (IFR) removing all race- and sex-based presumptions from the federal DBE and Airport Concession (DBE) programs. However, the four states we outlined are using state-based Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) programs to ignore the IFR and enforce race-based goals on highway projects using state tax dollars.
States cannot circumvent federal law simply by using state tax dollars. State DOTs are not only subject to the IFR, but they are also subject to Title VI, which prohibits discrimination “on the ground of race, color, or national origin” “under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000d.
Our Client: Contractors for Equal Opportunity (CEO) is a nationwide voluntary membership association of companies that have been negatively impacted by discrimination in local, state, and federal contracting programs, such as the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program and similar versions at the state and local levels. CEO is represented pro bono by attorneys at WILL. Find out more at: https://equalopportunitycontracts.org/.
WILL’s Work to End Race-Based Contracting: In 2023, WILL originally sued the Biden Administration on behalf of our two clients, Mid-America Milling Co., LLC (MAMCO) and Bagshaw Trucking Inc., alleging race- and sex-based discrimination. The case received an injunction in 2024 and then a court filing from the Trump Administration dismantled the race-based program. The program was most recently funded with $37 billion in tax dollars under the “Biden Infrastructure Bill.”
Read More:
- Complaints, March 2026
Dan Lennington
Vice President and Deputy Counsel