The Biden administration has paid more than 43,000 people for discrimination in the Agriculture Department’s loan programs, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday.
Tapping a $2.2 billion assistance program in the Inflation Reduction Act, the USDA paid producers an average of $82,000 for discrimination experienced before 2021, the department said.
The payments — ranging from $10,000 to $500,000 per farmer, rancher or forest owner — are a one-time event through the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program in the IRA, Vilsack said.
Congressional Republicans had cautioned the administration about the use of nongovernmental entities to administer the program, as well as the risk of equity-related programs running afoul of the Constitution’s equal protection clause.