The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) has successfully secured a major settlement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), triggering the end of race- and sex-based programs that harmed American farmers for decades. Following a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of Wisconsin dairy farmer Adam Faust, the USDA settled with WILL and agreed to end discriminatory preferences across three federal farming programs. As part of the settlement, the USDA will pay attorney fees to WILL.

The Quotes: WILL Managing Vice President and Deputy Counsel, Dan Lennington, stated, “The Trump Administration inherited dozens of discriminatory programs that supported certain farmers over others based on race and sex. Those shameful days are now behind us. We appreciate the USDA’s hard work in reforming important programs for American farmers.”

Background: In June 2025, WILL filed a federal lawsuit challenging the USDA’s use of race and sex as eligibility criteria for several programs. The lawsuit targeted the Loan Guarantee Program, the Dairy Margin Coverage Fee, and the EQIP Grant Program, arguing that these policies violated the equal protection guarantees of the U.S. Constitution.

Our Client: Adam Faust is a dairy farmer from Chilton, Wisconsin. He is one of the 2 million white male American farmers (60% of all farmers) who were harmed by discriminatory policies implemented by the Biden Administration’s USDA. For years, Mr. Faust has battled against unconstitutional discriminatory USDA programs. In a landmark 2021 victory, Mr. Faust was the first farmer to successfully sue the Biden Administration for race discrimination in the $4 billion Farmer Loan Forgiveness Program, securing a nationwide temporary restraining order preventing discrimination by USDA.

What Happened: The settlement resolves the lawsuit with the federal government abandoning several of its discriminatory programs:

  • Loan Guarantee Program: On July 10, 2025, less than a month after WILL filed suit, the USDA published a final rule that officially stripped out the discriminatory “socially disadvantaged” race- and sex-based designations.
  • USDOJ Agrees Programs are Unconstitutional: On February 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) publicly announced it would completely abandon its defense of the two remaining challenged programs, the Dairy Margin Coverage Fee and the EQIP Program, agreeing that they are unconstitutional.
  • Secured OLC Opinion: Based on WILL’s request, the USDA has formally requested an official Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion regarding “socially disadvantaged” preferences in statutory programs. This is a monumental victory that targets race- and sex-discrimination enshrined directly into federal statutes.

WILL’s Equality Under the Law Project: Since 2021, WILL has represented over 80 individuals from 26 states to challenge race-based programs. WILL sued the Biden Administration 12 times, securing historic victories against the discriminatory Farmer Loan Forgiveness Program, Restaurant Revitalization Fund, Minority Business Development Agency, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, and McNair Scholarship Program. These programs spent tens of billions of tax dollars each year on racially discriminatory programs.

All our representations have been pro bono, with WILL covering 100% of the costs of litigation.

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