Minority contractors face uncertainty as Trump-era DEI rollback threatens livelihoods

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Five months after a federal court ruled in favor of the Trump administration's overhaul of a U.S. Department of Transportation program, minority-owned businesses say they are being shut out of billions of dollars in construction work. The 42-year-old Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, which helped minority and women-owned firms compete for contracts, is now in flux as firms must reapply without the presumption of disadvantage, facing a patchwork of state-level timelines and processes.

Why it matters

The uncertainty around recertification of disadvantaged businesses is playing out in large infrastructure projects across the country, with some states dropping participation goals for minority contractors. This poses a threat to minority-owned firms, which say the program's purpose was to level the playing field in transportation contracting.

The details

Under the new rules, roughly 50,000 firms nationwide are required to submit 'personal narratives' along with other financial documents to recertify, demonstrating their individual experiences of hardship, systemic barriers and denied opportunities. During the prolonged reevaluation process, minority and women-owned firms can still bid on contracts but face competition against larger, better-capitalized firms, undermining the program's purpose.

• In October 2025, a U.S. district court in Kentucky cleared the way for the Trump administration to end the program's automatic presumption that businesses owned by women or racial minorities were socially and economically disadvantaged.
• In November 2025, the state of Minnesota started the review process to certify contractors as disadvantaged, but would not say when those certifications would be complete or how many.
• In February 2026, the Trump administration halted the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel project between New York and New Jersey to ensure that the funding wasn't tied to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives it deemed unconstitutional.
• On January 12, 2026, New Jersey started the process of reevaluating disadvantaged businesses, but would not say when they expected the process to conclude.
• On November 20, 2025, the Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared W. Perdue issued a memo advocating for the repeal of the federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program.

What they’re saying

What’s next

The judge in the Gateway Tunnel project case will decide on whether to permanently release the $16 billion in federal funding that was temporarily halted.