Trump wants to end affirmative action. Here’s how he plans to do it.

A little noticed lawsuit filed by the Trump Justice Department challenging affirmative action in the workplace may be headed to the Supreme Court.

When the Heritage Foundation think tank drew up an expansive presidential transition plan in anticipation of Donald Trump’s return to power, one of its chief policy goals was eliminating affirmative action, which Project 2025 dubbed "affirmative discrimination."

For decades, federal contracts to serve hot meals or manufacture missile defense systems came with strings. An executive order President Lyndon B. Johnson signed in 1965 required private companies to take proactive steps to ensure that women and people of color have equal opportunity in the workplace.

In one of the first official acts of his second term, Trump rescinded Johnson’s order. Now he’s angling to abolish affirmative action altogether.

His target is Minnesota’s affirmative action policies that the Justice Department began investigating last July.

State and federal civil rights laws prevent hiring or promotion decisions based on race or gender, but employers are permitted to create affirmative action plans in narrow circumstances to address workforce disparities in historically segregated jobs.