The Supreme Court nuked affirmative action in college admissions back in 2023.
Democrats thought they could keep their racial preferences alive in government hiring and contracting.
And Florida's Attorney General just dropped one bombshell that has Democrats squirming in their seats.
Florida declares dozens of race-based laws unconstitutional
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a legal opinion on Monday that torched decades of affirmative action programs baked into state law.
The 37-year-old DeSantis protégé didn't pull punches.
"Racial discrimination is wrong. It is also unconstitutional," Uthmeier wrote. "Yet Florida maintains several laws on its books that promote and require discrimination on its face."
https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/2013265406228594753?s=20
Uthmeier identified dozens of Florida statutes that mandate racial preferences in hiring, government contracting, and appointments to state boards.
His office won't defend or enforce any of them anymore.
The move comes nearly two years after the Supreme Court struck down race-based college admissions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
That landmark June 2023 ruling ended affirmative action in higher education by declaring Harvard and UNC's policies violated the Equal Protection Clause.
But Democrats kept pushing racial quotas everywhere else — state hiring, contracting, boards and councils.
Florida just became the first state to systematically purge these policies following the Harvard decision.
Laws targeting hiring, contracting, and boards get axed
Uthmeier targeted one state law requiring executive agencies to "develop and implement an affirmative action plan" with race-based hiring goals.
Agencies were forced to post demographic data showing how many minorities they hired to prove compliance.
The AG said these requirements "are not narrowly tailored and are not time-limited."
That means they fail constitutional scrutiny under current Supreme Court precedent.
Florida also maintained laws setting aside government contracts for minority-owned businesses in construction, engineering, and professional services.
Uthmeier called them what they are — unconstitutional racial discrimination dressed up as equity.
The opinion also slammed laws requiring certain state boards to include a quota of members from racial minority groups.
The Florida Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council must have specific numbers of minorities appointed.
Uthmeier said these mandates "are not tied to a compelling government interest and have no end date."
They're permanent racial preferences with zero justification.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2013378458080989475?s=20
Democrats panicking as their racial spoils system crumbles
Uthmeier's 14-page opinion includes an appendix listing dozens of additional statutes that reference race in programs ranging from scholarships to advisory councils.
"Because enforcing and obeying these discriminatory laws would violate those bedrock legal guarantees, those laws are unconstitutional," Uthmeier concluded. "My office, therefore, will not defend or enforce any of these discriminatory provisions."
This is what actual equal protection looks like.
Democrats sold Americans on the lie that you had to discriminate based on race to achieve equity.
California banned affirmative action in 1996 through Proposition 209.
After the ban, UCLA saw Black student enrollment crash from 7% to 3% and Latino enrollment plummet from 22% to 10% within two years.
Michigan banned race-based admissions in 2006 and Black undergraduate enrollment at the University of Michigan dropped from 7% to 4% by 2021.
Democrats point to these numbers as proof racial preferences are necessary.
But the Constitution doesn't care about Democrats' desired racial outcomes.
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection under law — not equal results based on skin color.
Nine states already banned race-based policies before the Supreme Court's Harvard decision.
Uthmeier is using the Harvard precedent to finish what Florida started years ago.
The opinion issued on Martin Luther King Jr. Day — a reminder that MLK's vision was content of character, not color of skin.
DeSantis appointed Uthmeier as Attorney General in February 2025 after Ashley Moody was tapped for the U.S. Senate.
Before that, Uthmeier served as DeSantis's chief of staff and ran his presidential campaign.
He's already sued Starbucks for alleged race-based hiring quotas.
President Trump endorsed Uthmeier in October for his 2026 election bid, calling him "a Strong Conservative Fighter" and "an America First Warrior."
Trump's administration is cracking down on DEI mandates across the federal government.
Uthmeier is doing the same thing at the state level in Florida.
Democrats built their political coalition around dividing Americans by race and handing out government benefits based on skin color.
The Supreme Court precedent from Harvard is being weaponized to dismantle the entire infrastructure of racial preferences.
California spent half a billion dollars trying to boost diversity after banning affirmative action — and still failed to match the racial makeup of high school graduates.
Michigan poured hundreds of millions into race-neutral alternatives and enrollment of Black students kept falling.
You can't engineer racial outcomes without discriminating based on race.
And the Constitution forbids that — no matter how noble Democrats claim their intentions are.
"The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race," Uthmeier wrote.
Democrats are running out of places to hide their racial spoils system.
Florida just became ground zero for the post-Harvard legal war against government-mandated racial preferences.
Sources:
- Anita Padilla, "Florida AG Uthmeier says race-based laws are unconstitutional, won't defend them anymore," Florida News, January 19, 2026.
- Fox News, "Laws demanding race-based state action are unconstitutional, Florida AG declares," January 19, 2026.
- Drew Dixon, "James Uthmeier: Florida's affirmative action laws are unconstitutional," FloridaPolitics.com, January 19, 2026.
- Leif Le Mahieu, "Florida Identifies Dozens Of Programs That Illegally Mandate Racial Preferences," The Daily Wire, January 19, 2026.
