Congressman Chip Roy speaks during a House Judiciary Committee field hearing. Credit: Shutterstock / lev radin

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose Central Texas district includes North San Antonio, took a victory lap on social media Wednesday after President Donald Trump overturned decades-old order ensuring nondiscrimination in federal contracting.

“This is game-changing and we should strike to make it permanent,” Roy tweeted before 5 a.m. Wednesday. “The Freedom Caucus would all vote to codify this. But many Republicans would not. We have to be willing to be as bold in Congress….”

The Freedom Caucus, of which Roy is a member, represents the most right-most extreme of the GOP.

To Roy’s point, some Republicans might be hesitant to sign Trump’s executive order into law since it essentially allows the federal government to discriminate based on race and gender when it comes to awarding federal contracts.

The executive order Trump signed late Tuesday revokes one signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. Johnson’s order — signed two years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream Speech” and opposed at the time by segregationists — ensured equal opportunity for people of color and women in recruiting federal contractors.

LBJ’s order also required federal contractors to implement affirmative action programs and ensure equal opportunity “based on race, color, religion, and national origin.”

Roy, a far-right firebrand, has been busy kissing Trump’s ass since the regime returned to power in Washington on Monday. In conjunction with Trump’s pardon of 1,500 Jan. 6 insurrection participants — many of whom were charged with assaulting police officers — Roy headed to the D.C. jail to cheer on their release.

“We hope they’re going to be released shortly, Roy told far-right cable news outlet Real America’s Voice. “They should be released shortly. A pardon is a pardon.”

However, some alleged Jan. 6 participants remain in custody, because they’re being held on prior convictions not covered by the president’s pardon, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Roy’s appearance outside the jailhouse followed several hours after he demanded on social media that Anthony Fauci and retired Gen. Mark Milley be tried before Congress for unspecified crimes.

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This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...