TEXAS AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER SID MILLER DECLARES WAR ON DEI (1/28/2025)

Says Texas Department of Agriculture will not contract with entities that promote discriminatory DEI and DEIA policies

AUSTIN, TEXAS—Today, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced that he was going to war against so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) policies and that the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA), the multibillion-dollar agency he leads, will no longer contract or do business with entities that promote these discriminatory, demeaning, and immoral race and sex-based preferences which oftentimes violate the civil-rights laws of the United States.

“During the four years of the Biden Administration, these dangerous policies were allowed to infect all aspects of our federal government, major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, and institutions of higher education,” said Commissioner Miller.

“Not only do they violate the letter and spirit of the hard-won civil rights laws of our state and nation, but they also undermine our national spirit and weaken the traditional values that have made America strong and the envy of the world. DEI policies are a slap in the face to every citizen who seeks to build a better life for themselves and their family through hard work, ingenuity, and merit, and the Texas Department of Agriculture will not allow taxpayer dollars to be directed to those institutions that fail to comply with our civil rights laws and continue to promote DEI policies,” Miller added.

Commissioner Miller said that effective immediately, he has directed TDA staff to cease doing business with vendors or subcontractors who promote, maintain, or enforce biased, prejudiced, and unfair DEI or DEIA policies based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin.

“During the last Presidential election, the people of Texas and the rest of the country spoke loudly and clearly and said they had enough of this DEI nonsense. President Donald Trump and the United States Department of Justice are doing their part to rid this evil from our federal institutions, and I am going to do my part in ridding it from Texas,” Miller concluded.