Whether a small-business owner who was denied entry into SBA's Section 8(a) Business Development Program for failing to prove 'social disadvantage' has Article III standing to challenge a race-based presumption that excuses certain applicants from making that showing

The Small Business Administration’s Section 8(a) Business Development Program provides valuable benefits to small businesses owned by individuals deemed “socially disadvantaged .” Members of favored racial and ethnic groups are presumed to be disadvantaged, while other applicants must prove it . Small businesses in the program receive exclusive access to contracts with the federal government and other training and business development opportun ities. Marty Hierholzer, a service -disabled veteran , has twice been denied entry to the program after SBA concluded that evidence of his social disadvantage was insufficient. T he Fourth Circuit held that he lacks standing to challenge the race -based rule that unequally excuses some applicants from demonstrating their social disadvantage. The question presented is : Whether a small -business owner who was denied entry into SBA’s Section 8(a) Business Development Program for failing to prove “social disadvantage” has Article III standing to challenge a race -based presumption that excuses certain applicants from making that showing.