LAKEWOOD, Colo. (February 11, 2025) — In a groundbreaking development in Strickland v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, the federal government has informed the court that it is unequivocally renouncing race and sex preferences in emergency relief programs for farmers and ranchers. This decisive action marks a major shift in policy, and has a significant impact on ongoing legal challenges against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding its race- and sex-based relief programs.
The government’s stance was very clear: “the programs at issue in this case are unconstitutional to the extent they include preferences based on race and sex. USDA has independently determined that it will no longer employ the race- and sex-based ‘socially disadvantaged’ designation to provide increased benefits based on race and sex in the programs at issue in this case… the Department of Justice will no longer defend the merits of the USDA programs at issue in this case.”
The Trump Administration’s filing represents a significant victory for equal protection under the law, and aligns with our legal efforts to ensure that government programs are administered in a race- and sex-neutral manner. By explicitly rejecting preferential treatment based on race or sex, the government acknowledges the unconstitutionality of USDA policies that previously allocated aid based on these factors. Disasters do not discriminate and neither should the USDA. The government now agrees.
“This is a landmark moment in the fight for equal protection under the law,” said Mountain States General Counsel William Trachman. “The Trump Administration’s official renunciation of race and sex preferences in emergency relief sets a precedent that government aid must be distributed based on neutral factors, not identity. We have fought hard to ensure that equality prevails, and this filing is a major first step toward ensuring that federal programs comply with constitutional principles. Thank you President Trump.”