# Providing for a State Affirmative Action Council *Providing for a State Affirmative Action Council* is a [[Minnesota]] law catalogued under that title.[^1] The sources gathered for this entry do not include its text, session-law citation, enactment date, sponsors or votes.[^1] They also do not describe the council's statutory duties, membership or reporting obligations. The record therefore does not establish who enacted, amended or maintained the measure, or what the council has produced.[^1] The measure concerns [[Affirmative action]] in Minnesota state government. That subject is also the subject of a federal civil action. On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] sued the State and announced the suit in release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*.[^2] The complaint cites [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]], the State's affirmative-action hiring provision.[^3] The sources gathered here do not establish whether the council measure is among the instruments at issue in that case.[^3] ## Federal action on Minnesota's affirmative-action hiring law The Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs issued release No. 26-21 on January 14, 2026. The release states that Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^2] The complaint is *[[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]]*, No. 0:26-cv-00273, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota on January 14, 2026.[^3] It is brought under [[Title VII]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].[^3] It cites Minn. Stat. § 43A.191 eight times. Among the provisions it cites is subdivision 3(c), which requires an agency to explain the reason for hiring a non-affirmative candidate.[^3] The sources cited here record the filing. They do not record a ruling or other disposition.[^3] The suit was filed after the Supreme Court's decision in *[[Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services]]*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025).[^4] In that case the Court held that Title VII's disparate-treatment provision "draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs."[^4] It also rejected the Sixth Circuit's heightened "background circumstances" rule for majority-group plaintiffs.[^4] ## The "regime" designation The title of release No. 26-21 applies the word "regime" to Minnesota's affirmative-action apparatus.[^2] The United States government has used the term in statute for governments it opposes. The [[Iraq Liberation Act]] of 1998, Pub. L. 105-338, states a policy of supporting efforts to remove "the regime headed by Saddam Hussein."[^5] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages, published in *[[How Minnesota Got Here]]* (note 40), finds that Minnesota is the only U.S. state so described.[^5] This finding is the project's own and is reported here as such.[^5] ## In the Minnesota record ### What - The subject is catalogued as a Minnesota law under the title *Providing for a State Affirmative Action Council*. Its text and enactment record are not among the sources gathered for this entry.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Providing for a State Affirmative Action Council* (retrieved 26 October 2026; CC BY-SA 4.0) — identifies the subject by title; the cached copy carries no sections, so it supplies no text, dates, sponsors or votes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Providing_for_a_State_Affirmative_Action_Council [^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — announces the suit and states the Attorney General's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Complaint, United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn. filed Jan. 14, 2026) — Title VII action that cites Minn. Stat. § 43A.191 eight times, including subd. 3(c). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^4]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025) — holds that Title VII's disparate-treatment provision draws no majority/minority distinction and rejects the "background circumstances" rule. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf [^5]: U.S. Congress, *Iraq Liberation Act of 1998*, Pub. L. 105-338 (1998) — states the policy of supporting efforts to remove "the regime headed by Saddam Hussein"; the finding that Minnesota is the only U.S. state so described is the project's catalogue finding (*How Minnesota Got Here*, note 40), not established by this statute. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-105publ338/pdf/PLAW-105publ338.pdf