The Trump administration is looking to get rid of a $37 billion diversity, equity, and inclusion program called the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program. Two white-owned contracting businesses challenged the constitutionality of the program, and the Justice Department agreed.

Erec Smith, a research fellow at the Cato Institute, offered this statement in response:

If the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program was justified as a form of past discrimination remediation, and the program has been implemented over the past five decades, it clearly seems to be ineffective in accomplishing that goal. After an unsuccessful 50 years, perhaps it’s time for a new strategy. Are the perceived disadvantages of marginalized contractors inherent to their sex, race, or ethnicity? Are there race-neutral alternatives that can work to remove whatever obstacles impede the upward mobility of women and minorities in contracting? These are the questions the nation should be asking.

If you’d like to speak with Erec, please reach out to pr@​cato.​org.