Congressman Tom Emmer called out the Metropolitan Council over its proposal to “use Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)” criteria in how transportation dollars are handed out across the Twin Cities metro area.
“DEI should not be considered when determining funding for transportation projects,” Emmer said in a press release. “The MET Council’s ‘Community Consideration’ is completely against the Trump administration’s federal guidelines and has the potential to put Minnesota’s federal funding in jeopardy.”
In a recent letter to the council, Emmer criticized its 2026 Regional Solicitation, which includes a “Community Considerations” component when scoring and awarding funding for transportation projects. According to the Met Council, the Regional Solicitation is a biennial process that awards about $250 million in federal funds.
“It has come to my attention that the MET Council—made up entirely of gubernatorial appointees—is in direct violation of the administration’s DEI policies in their proposed 2026 Regional Solicitation,” Emmer wrote in the letter.
Emmer said the “community considerations” criterion is a “core scoring element this year that ensures projects align with the Met Council’s equity, inclusion, and environmental justice goals.”
“The criterion draws on multiple Met Council and Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) DEI policies, including Imagine 2050 and the Transportation Policy Plan, which prioritize ‘adapting policies, systems, services, and spending so that they contribute to the repair of both historic and ongoing injustice’ experienced by ‘historically marginalized communities,’ including ‘people of color, Indigenous people, low income, disabled, youth, and older adult populations,'” Emmer said.
“These DEI criterion currently account for up to 20 percent of the score in several project categories, despite learning that the majority of county commissioners, city elected officials, and a MnDOT representative support limiting Community Considerations to a maximum of 15 percent of the total score,” he continued.
The Met Council, a 17-member board appointed by the governor, oversees planning for transportation, housing, parks, wastewater, and more across 181 cities and townships in seven counties.
Emmer’s letter notes that the Met Council turned down a county’s request to have the U.S. Department of Transportation review the new criteria for federal compliance.
“Our actions are compliant with federal policy. For additional detail, please see Chair Robin Hutcheson’s full statement attached from the April 22 Metropolitan Council meeting where the Regional Solicitation was approved,” a Met Council spokesperson told Alpha News.
This isn’t the first time the MET Council has drawn scrutiny for embedding equity and inclusion into its work. The regional planning agency disbursed millions of dollars through its “Equity Grant Program,” which funded a project that “prioritized” registration for people of certain races and sexual orientations.
In March, Emmer and Minnesota’s Republican congressional delegation called on Congress to prohibit federal funding of the Blue Line light rail extension project and the Northern Lights Express, calling them “completely unnecessary uses of taxpayer funds.”
Hayley Feland
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
