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*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

January 19, 2026

www.texasattorneygeneral.gov




*PRESS OFFICE:
*[email protected]





 

*Attorney General Paxton Issues Legal Opinion Dismantling DEI in Texas, Declaring Decades’ Worth of DEI Frameworks—Memorialized in Over 100 Woke State Laws—Unconstitutional and Overruling a Flawed Opinion from then-AG Cornyn that Allowed DEI to Flourish *

 

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a first-of-its-kind legal opinion, unparalleled in its size and scope, declaring the unconstitutionality of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) policies and programs in Texas government.  

 

The opinion declares decades’ worth of DEI frameworks—memorialized in over 100 woke state laws—unconstitutional, including DEI programs in schools and state and local governments across Texas. Along with public institutions, Attorney General Paxton’s opinion notes that every private company engaging in woke DEI practices is exposing themselves to significant legal liability under state and federal law. 

 

“This action to dismantle DEI in Texas helps fulfill the vision articulated by Martin Luther King, Jr. when he dreamed that his children would one day live in a nation where they were judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” said Attorney General Paxton. “America is waking up to the egregious unfairness of DEI policies. People should be judged based on merit and the quality of their character and qualifications, not their race, sex, or any other inherent characteristic conferred at birth. Our Constitution and our governmental system exist to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all American citizens. Core to those foundational principles is the fact that racial discrimination is not only morally wrong, but it’s illegal as well. This may come as a news flash to the radicals on the far-left, but our Constitution and the rule of law do not allow woke, race-based favoritism that tears our country apart. It’s imperative that all private-sector employers, schools, and state and local government entities—based on this legal opinion—immediately abolish any DEI, affirmative action, or unconstitutional discrimination programs under their authority. We must return to the basic principles of equal opportunity for all.” 

 

In the wake of the Left’s decades-long effort to push radical propaganda, affirmative action, and DEI policies, Attorney General Paxton is making it clear that DEI is a thing of the past. His guidance restores a merit-based legal framework and reaffirms that Texas law does not permit discrimination in the name of “equity.”  

 

This new legal opinion also overrules previous Attorney General John Cornyn’s legal opinion that refused to address DEI’s faults and illegalities. In 1999, Cornyn muddied the waters by overturning a legally sound opinion that affirmed constitutional principles. His actions left critical constitutional questions unresolved, which then allowed decades of DEI and discriminatory practices to proliferate across state government unchecked. Attorney General Paxton’s opinion restores clarity, order, and constitutional integrity. 

 

The Attorney General’s opinion notes that historically underutilized business (“HUB”) programs establish a pervasive regime of racial, ethnic, and sex-based classifications in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and the Texas Constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment. By prioritizing public grants for certain businesses based on race and sex, these programs blatantly violate the law and use these factors as proxies for merit. This is a failure to rightly steward taxpayer dollars. While it is unconstitutional for programs to operate and judge based on skin color, sex, race, or other immutable traits bestowed at birth, programs and policies for veterans and veteran-owned businesses should remain in place and are unaffected by this opinion—preserving funds for those who have earned support and access to programs by bravely serving our country.  

 

Attorney General Paxton’s opinion analyzes programs like the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (“DBE”) program and initiatives and statutes mandating the consideration of race and sex for seats on state boards, commissions, and committees. The opinion concludes that these policies cannot survive constitutional review. Claims that individuals of a particular race or sex “represent” the views or interests of an entire group reinforce offensive generalizations and falsely assume that people think alike based on immutable traits, which is an assumption squarely rejected by the law. 

 

Attorney General Paxton also notes the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision evaluating the constitutionality of race-based affirmative action policies in the admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. In that landmark ruling, the Court held that the programs failed to meet strict scrutiny and highlighted that, “[o]ur acceptance of race-based state action has been rare for a reason. ‘Distinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry are by their very nature odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality.’” The case finally put an end to affirmative action in higher education. As the Court said clearly in its ruling: “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.” Now, Attorney General Paxton has issued the most wide-sweeping, binding legal document since that ruling. By highlighting the Supreme Court's decision as a repudiation of race-based preferences and DEI frameworks, Attorney General Paxton affirms the unconstitutionality of these discriminatory practices across state government and in the private sector—not just a narrow holding limited to university admissions.  

 

The Office of the Attorney General will continue to investigate and hold accountable any school district, local governmental entity, state agency, or program that attempts to use DEI or affirmative action as a guise for unlawful discrimination, ideological coercion, or the erosion of merit-based decision-making. The Constitution does not permit discrimination by another name, and Texas will not tolerate the circumvention of the law through “DEI.” 

 

To read the full opinion, click here [ [link removed] ]. 

   

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