Men need not apply: Program reserving contracts for women only warrants constitutional challenge

Article here. Excerpt:

'The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a solicitation for a contract to provide support services at Fort Detrick in Maryland. Nothing unusual there, except that the contract reflects a new Obama administration program to restrict competition on the basis of gender.

The solicitation explains, “This procurement is set aside for Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) firms only.” No one but women need apply. The WOSB program is a federal contracting preference that hurts male African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans or American Indians in exactly the same way white men are hurt.

Here’s how the WOSB program works: In most of the industries in which the federal government does business, if a) there are two female-owned companies likely to bid on a contract, and b) the contract is for less than $6.5 million for manufacturing and $4 million for everything else, and c) the contract can be awarded for a “fair and reasonable price,” that contract can be awarded without competition from male-owned firms. The Small Business Administration runs the program.'