“Fox & Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones speaks with business owners at the Golden Egg Diner in Surfside Beach, South Carolina.
Three small business owners have won in court against the Biden administration, accusing them of trying to determine winners and losers based solely on race when determining who receives government financial assistance.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) replaced Jeffrey Nziard and Matthew Piper in March 2023 as the federal agency expanded under the Biden administration and charged with supporting minority-owned businesses. Minority Business Development Authority (MBDA). And Christian Blacker.
MBDA called for serving “minority businesses (MBEs) owned and operated by African Americans, Asian Americans, Hasidic Jews, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders.” . The agency was established as part of an executive order in the 1960s and was permanently authorized by the Infrastructure Act in 2021.
All three plaintiffs tried to use the MBDA to support their businesses, but were denied access because of their race, according to the complaint. Additionally, the MBDA discriminated against the types of minorities eligible for aid, excluding ethnic groups from the Middle East, North Africa, and North Asia.
Plaintiff Christian Bruckner (intention)
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The court ruled Wednesday that the MBDA violates the Constitution's core requirement of equal treatment under the law and that government agencies can no longer administer race-based programs or grants. .
U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman wrote in his ruling that the MBDA “can continue to operate its business centers, but it must simply do so without screening applicants based on race.”
He said the “very design” of federal agencies “punishes” certain disadvantaged racial groups, adding that “the federal government may grossly violate such rights with impunity.” Yes,” he added.
“MBDA has been doing that for years,” he concluded. “Time's up.”
Christian Bruckner, a Romanian immigrant to the U.S. who owns a contracting company in Florida, contacted MBDA about federal assistance and said MBDA's focus was on “supporting the growth of Romanian-owned businesses.” “It's something you should do,” he said. According to the complaint, they are an ethnic minority. Instead, he was directed to a private company, where he had to pay aid. Bruckner believed that America was the freest country on earth, which is why he moved to the United States in the 1970s. That's why he said he wanted to sue in the first place.
He told FOX News Digital that the decision gives him “great confidence in our justice system,” adding, “Especially in taxpayer-funded programs like this, all Americans, regardless of race, are treated equally. I hope that this will come true.”
Plaintiff Jeffrey Nziard, a U.S. Army veteran from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, wanted to expand his business, Sexual Wellness Center of Texas, but when he looked into grants offered by the MBDA, he found that I learned that I was not qualified because of my species. . “It's downright offensive that President Biden has established an agency dedicated to helping some races and not others,” he previously said.
Plaintiff Jeff Nuziard (intention)
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A third plaintiff, Matthew Piper, who owns an architecture firm in Wisconsin, also discovered that he was ineligible for MBDA assistance because of the color of his skin. “The American Dream should be available to all Americans, regardless of skin color or cultural background,” Piper said in filing the lawsuit.
Daniel Lennington, deputy general counsel at WILL, told FOX News Digital that the decision is a huge victory for equality and “the core interests of DEI.”
“A victory in this case means that governments and companies that use DEI can no longer just make assumptions about people, but must actually help those in need. That's what we think,” Lennington said. “They should treat people as individuals, not as members of a racial group.”
Rick Essenberg, president and general counsel of WILL, praised the decision for ending conduct by a “decades of discriminatory institution.”
Plaintiff Matthew Piper (intention)
“After reinvigorating the government, the Biden administration denied aid to millions of businesses based on race,” he said. “Those days are over. Equality must be the law of the land. Through the courage and tenacity of our clients, we are moving closer to realizing that dream.”
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The lawsuit is Will's third victory as part of a larger project known as the Equality Under Law Project, which the group says promotes a racial equality agenda. The plan covers a number of plans by the Biden administration.
WILL fights Biden over the Farm Loan Forgiveness Program, which canceled certain farm loans based on race, and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which used racial preferential treatment to provide COVID-19 benefits to certain restaurants. filed a lawsuit against the government. WILL obtained injunctions against both programs.
WILL is also challenging other parts of the 2021 Infrastructure Act currently pending in federal court. This is the fourth lawsuit filed by WILL against the Biden administration, and the lawsuit seeks to open up the Disadvantages Business Enterprise (DBE) program, a $37 billion infrastructure fund currently available only to minorities.
Lennington said a decision in the lawsuit is expected in the coming weeks or months.
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