Does the federal government have an equal protection obligation under the Fifth Amendment?

Although the federal government and its agencies are not bound by the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clause, the Fifth Amendment due process clause has an equal protection component which imposes similar, but not identical, limitations on government actions. Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497, 499, 74 S.Ct. 693, 98 L.Ed. 884 (1954). "(D)iscrimination Within the class of aliens allowing benefits to some aliens but not to others" may be permissible if it is rationally related to achieving a valid governmental objective. Mathews, 426 U.S. at 80, 81-83, 96 S.Ct. at 1892 (emphasis in original). ⁹