Case Particulars

Tribunal

U.S. Department of Education

Date Filed

September 22, 2026

Docket No.

ED-2026-OPEPD-2542

Case Status

Public Comment Submitted

Case Overview

The Legal Insurrection Foundation (LIF), whose initiatives include the Equal Protection Project, submitted a public comment to the U.S. Department of Education supporting proposed amendments to the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR). LIF urged the Department to strengthen the proposed rule by preventing identity-based preferences from being implemented indirectly through intersectionality, proxy criteria, or composite identity classifications.

The comment argues that the Department’s proposed merit-based framework should focus on how criteria operate in practice, not merely on the labels used. LIF warned that terms such as “intersectional,” “equity-centered,” or “historically marginalized” could be used to recreate preferences based on protected characteristics through multi-factor or composite classifications.

LIF cited federal spending data identifying nearly 250 federal assistance-award records using the term “intersectionality,” representing approximately $250 million in obligations and $150 million in outlays. The comment recommended a narrow anti-circumvention rule barring criteria or practices that would be impermissible if applied directly from being applied indirectly through intersectionality, proxy classifications, or similar terminology.

LIF also proposed limited definitions and safeguards designed to preserve lawful civil-rights compliance, academic inquiry, demographic data collection, religious exercise, and neutral measures of need. The comment urged the Department to finalize the EDGAR amendments while adding these protections against indirect identity-based preferences.