DOJ Sues Minnesota Over Discriminatory DEI Hiring Mandates

The Trump-era Department of Justice just delivered a major blow to the Left’s diversity agenda, filing a federal lawsuit against the state of Minnesota for codifying race- and sex-based discrimination into its hiring practices under the guise of “affirmative action.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the suit Wednesday, calling Minnesota’s DEI policies “discriminatory” and a violation of federal civil rights law. “This is discriminatory DEI codified into bad state policy, and the Trump Administration will not stand for it,” Bondi said.

According to the DOJ, Minnesota requires every state agency to adopt affirmative action plans that explicitly consider race, sex, and national origin when making staffing decisions. These mandates, the DOJ argues, violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids employment discrimination based on these same categories.

“Because staffing is a zero-sum game, when Minnesota gives preferences to employees or prospective employees on the basis of their race, color, national origin, and sex, it inevitably and necessarily discriminates against other employees or prospective employees,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, is the latest in a growing effort by the Trump Administration to dismantle the Left’s DEI infrastructure across government, academia, and corporate America.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon explained it plainly “For far too long, courts have allowed employers to discriminate based on race and sex when it is packaged as ‘affirmative action.’ The Supreme Court already rejected race-based admissions policies in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard case. This lawsuit is the next logical step.”

This is not just a legal fight it’s a major ideological showdown between the Left’s obsession with identity quotas and the principle of equal treatment under the law. And Minnesota has become ground zero.

The state’s DEI directives order agencies to pursue workforce compositions that “balance” with demographic data from the broader civilian labor force meaning race and gender are not just considered but actively targeted as quotas. That’s not diversity that’s discrimination, repackaged and state-enforced.

Bondi emphasized that the lawsuit is part of a broader strategy to hold Minnesota accountable, noting that the DOJ is also pursuing the state for its sanctuary city policies and wide-ranging fraud investigations. “Making hiring decisions based on immutable characteristics like race and sex is simple discrimination,” she said. “And the Trump Administration has no tolerance for such DEI policies.”

Let’s not forget:

• 79% of Americans oppose race-based hiring and promotions, according to a 2023 Pew survey.

• Minnesota’s DEI expansion has cost millions in taxpayer dollars, yet state performance metrics remain stagnant or declining.

• The Supreme Court has made it crystal clear: race-based policies violate the Constitution, no matter how they’re branded.

This lawsuit could set a powerful precedent one that reaffirms the legal and moral truth that merit, not identity, should govern opportunity. And it signals a welcome reversal of the Left’s campaign to divide Americans along racial and gender lines.

The Trump DOJ isn’t just cleaning house it’s restoring equal protection under the law. And Minnesota’s woke bureaucracy just got a long-overdue reality check.

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