(Nov. 5, 2025): Today, Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) issued a public comment in support of the Department of Transportation (DOT) considering a new rule which revises the discriminatory policies that plagued its programs.

SLF President Kim Hermann said, “It is unconstitutional to favor anyone based on their race or sex and all policies that do just that must be stamped out at all costs. We are thrilled to see that DOT is looking to revise these discriminatory policies that were clearly looking to divide workers of different races all in the name of DEI. All forms of DEI must be promptly removed from government organizations and programs. We hope all government agencies and programs will follow Sec. Duffy’s lead here.”

SLF issued a public comment earlier this year to Secretary of DOT Sean Duffy, advising that the agency remove its “Participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in Airport Concessions” (ACDBE)  and “Participation by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises in Department of Transportation Finance Assistance Program” (DBE) which both encouraged discriminatory favoring of “socially disadvantaged” individuals.

As SLF has shown via federal lawsuits, “socially disadvantaged” is just another way to exclude white men from government programs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has dozens of discriminatory programs impacting farmers, which SLF has chipped away at through lawsuits and public comment.

SLF said in the comment, “DOT is wise to redefine the term “socially disadvantaged” by removing the presumption for certain races and women. In its place, DOT proposes to require that businesses make an individualized showing before DOT will consider them to be “socially and economically disadvantaged.” Until DOT adopts this neutral definition, the two programs will, by design, engage in the ‘sordid business [of] divvying us up by race.’”

Download press release.