Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is tangling with the Biden administration again – this time, over a federal rule that prohibits discrimination against LGBTQ people in adoption and foster care matters.
“This one stems back from an Obama-era policy that said, basically, the feds are not going to fund state foster care systems if states allow groups to participate that won’t let people adopt who are from same-sex marriages,” James Barragán, political reporter for the Texas Tribune says. “Texas passed a law in 2017 that said that they could – and that they would allow these kinds of groups to still adopt from the foster care system.”
Barragán notes the issue didn’t arise under the Trump administration, which didn’t disagree with Texas’ decision to allow discriminatory groups in the foster program. “But it’s back now, and that’s what’s spurred this legal action,” he says. “We’ll see where this goes. But it could lead to loss of federal funding for the very troubled Texas state foster care system.”
For more stories from the week in Texas politics, including Gov. Greg Abbott’s push for increased penalties for human smugglers, and Texas Republicans calling for a new national chair, listen to our Q&A in the audio player above.
