1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

The Justice Department is using civil rights law as a weapon to target Austin, Texas’s equity office without citing any specific violations. DOJ officials mention vague website language but provide no evidence of actual discrimination. This mirrors similar investigations launched against the UC System and Rhode Island this summer. The pattern is clear: federal agencies conduct politically motivated fishing expeditions against institutions with clean compliance records. Austin’s Office of Equity and Inclusion enforces civil rights laws in hiring, housing, and tenant protections. The city confirms full legal compliance, as stated by Mayor Watson. Yet the DOJ spends millions of taxpayer dollars investigating an office created to prevent workplace discrimination. Assistant Attorney General Dhillon’s heated rhetoric about “un-American” practices ignores the office’s legitimate mission: ensuring equal opportunity for all workers. These investigations are a dangerous overreach that threatens local governance. Congress allocated DOJ funds to pursue actual civil rights violations, not to harass municipalities over preventing workplace bias. The Justice Department should focus on documented discrimination, not on manufacturing controversies for political gain. I urge you to publicly condemn this abuse of federal investigative power and demand that the DOJ provide specific evidence justifying these costly investigations. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for political theater disguised as civil rights enforcement. Please stand up for local governance and demand accountability from federal agencies that misuse their authority.