On January 20, 2025, the Trump administration began systematically dismantling every federal program built to give certified AEC firms a fighting chance. Two executive orders in two days. The Minority Business Development Agency — 56 years old, $68 million annual budget — zeroed out. DBE certifications suspended. Federal agencies directed to set zero-percent participation goals.

This is the record. Not hyperbole.

In October 2025, the Department of Transportation issued an Interim Final Rule stripping the foundational presumption that had defined the DBE program for four decades. No longer could women or minority-owned businesses be presumed disadvantaged. Every owner must now submit a personal narrative — a written account of specific discrimination — and undergo individual reevaluation. As if the disparity studies in every major American city weren't proof enough.

We could spend this entire editorial in rage. And honestly, the rage is warranted. These programs existed because the construction industry, left entirely to its own devices, produced demonstrably inequitable outcomes for generations. The programs weren't charity. They were a correction.

$22 billion. NYC's FY2024–2028 Capital Plan — moving through agencies governed by New York State law, not federal executive order. The Port Authority just raised its DBE goal to 27%. The Gateway Tunnel program — $16 billion in projected spend — still carries participation requirements being defended in active federal litigation. NJ's Infrastructure Resilience Bond is structured entirely outside federal contracting rules.

They changed the language in Washington. They did not stop the projects in Queens.