The U.S. Department of Agriculture is no longer defending a Biden administration program that gave preferential treatment to farmers based on race and gender for loans, commodities, and conservation assistance, the Washington Examiner reported.
The USDA submitted a motion in a legal case declining to stand behind the initiative, according to a court filing obtained by the Examiner.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty had sued the USDA on behalf of a Wisconsin dairy farmer who said he was being discriminated against because he was white, the Examiner said.
The USDA allowed women and racial minorities to receive a higher guarantee on their loans against personal financial loss — up to 95% of the outstanding principal — while white men might get a guarantee of only 90% of a loan's value, the Examiner said.
A lower guarantee means higher interest rates and lower overall loan amounts, the Examiner said.
White farmers were also required to pay a $100 fee to the Dairy Margin Coverage Program, which pays producers when the margin between the price of milk and the average cost of feed falls below a certain level, the Examiner said. Ethnic minorities and women, labeled "socially disadvantaged people," were exempt from the fee.
The USDA removed the program for "socially disadvantaged" people last month. Use of the "socially disadvantaged" designation, the department said, is "inconsistent with constitutional principles and the administration's policy objectives.
"Moving forward, the USDA will no longer apply race- or sex-based criteria in its decision-making processes, ensuring that its programs are administered in a manner that upholds the principles of meritocracy, fairness, and equal opportunity for all participants," the USDA said.
The USDA said in a court filing that its new rule "could obviate the need for further litigation."
WILL applauded the government's actions.
"This lawsuit served as a much-needed reminder to the USDA that President Trump has ordered the end to all federal DEI programs," Dan Lennington, deputy legal counsel at WILL, told the Examiner.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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