Texas Governor Forces Major Airport to Cancel Controversial Religious Project After Threatening Massive Funding Cut

Liberty Check

• Governor Abbott halted Islamic foot-washing stations at DFW Airport, citing constitutional violations and religious favoritism at government-owned facilities
• Both DFW and Houston airports face federal investigation and potential state grant revocation after Abbott referred them to DOT for discriminatory religious accommodations
• The airport reversed course within hours of Abbott’s warning, claiming the $300,000 project would not deliver anticipated benefits

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport abruptly canceled plans to install Islamic foot-washing stations in two Terminal D restrooms Friday night, hours after Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared the proposal illegal and launched a comprehensive review of all state funding flowing to the facility.

The swift reversal came as Abbott escalated his response, threatening to revoke existing grants and block future state funding to any organization found operating what he characterized as exclusionary religious spaces at taxpayer-funded facilities.

“These ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. That is illegal,” Abbott wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

“Both airports are government-owned facilities. The federal and state constitutions prohibit governments from facilitating this sort of discrimination. Just as the government cannot favor the secular over the sacred, it also cannot favor one religious view over all others.”

Abbott didn’t stop with DFW. He referred both Dallas-Fort Worth International and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport to the U.S. Department of Transportation for investigation and enforcement, requesting the department and Federal Aviation Administration review all religious facilities and accommodations at each location. Abbott’s office revealed that Houston’s airport already operates an ablution facility with an adjoining prayer room.

In a separate warning to DFW CEO Christopher McLaughlin, Abbott made clear that organizations found to have developed or operated such spaces could face immediate loss of state grant funding and additional enforcement actions.

“Texas will not allow illegal religious discrimination at taxpayer-funded facilities,” Abbott declared on X.

DFW Airport told Fox News Digital it had been considering an internal proposal to add ablution stations on the pre-security side of Terminal D, the airport’s international terminal. The airport claimed it evaluates operational benefits, customer service impacts, operational risks and costs before approving any project.

“While that evaluation was planned, the airport accelerated its review due to elevated public interest this week and has determined not to proceed with the project as it would not deliver the originally anticipated operational benefits,” the airport said.

The airport refused to specify what those supposed benefits were. Some defenders of the proposal had argued the low-level basins would address maintenance issues, claiming travelers performing wudu in standard countertop sinks damage counters and soak restroom floors. Wudu is the ritual washing Muslims perform before prayer, covering the hands, face, arms, head and feet.

DFW has maintained an ablution station on the post-security side of Terminal D for years. Two were added to the terminal’s Interfaith Chapel during 2019 upgrades, alongside shoe storage, kneelers and expanded shelving for religious texts. Similar facilities exist at other major U.S. airports, including Chicago O’Hare.

The project filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, registered July 31, listed the work as privately funded with a $300,000 price tag and an end-of-year completion date.

After public scrutiny intensified, DFW claimed those details reflected administrative errors by its outside design firm and insisted the project had never received final approval. A spokesperson said the $300,000 was a preliminary high estimate and that actual costs would have run closer to $120,000. The Dallas Express reported Friday that the filing had been quietly revised to $115,000 and reclassified.

“That was an error and it should have indicated that airport funds would be used to pay for the work like all our projects,” the airport said, adding that it does not use taxpayer dollars for operations and instead relies on revenue from parking and concessions.

The Constitution must be defended.