Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is joining forces with the Department of Justice’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force, marking a significant expansion of the state’s efforts to combat antitrust violations in government contracting.
The partnership, announced Monday, aims to crack down on bid rigging, price fixing and other anticompetitive practices that potentially cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year. For Paxton, who has positioned himself as a fiscal watchdog, the move represents another opportunity to align with President Trump’s administration while addressing corruption concerns.
Combining Resources Against Procurement Fraud
“I’m partnering with President Trump as a member of his DOJ’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force to combat bid rigging and other anticompetitive practices that harm Texans,” said Attorney General Paxton in a statement. “This effort will help continue my office’s work to protect taxpayer dollars by ensuring corporations do not engage in illegal activity.”
The Strike Force, which brings together resources from multiple federal agencies including the FBI and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, has established itself as a formidable presence in government procurement oversight since its formation. Its mission focuses specifically on detecting, investigating, and prosecuting anticompetitive conduct in public procurement at all levels of government, as detailed in public documents.
Why does this matter? Government contracting represents hundreds of billions in annual spending, creating enormous opportunities for corruption and collusion that directly impact taxpayers.
The Strike Force has already made substantial headway, indicting numerous cases for felony violations across various sectors. “There’s a Procurement Collusion Strike Force that, at this point, has indicted for felony violations of Title 18 and Title 15 (which is where the antitrust laws live) just on procurement contracts with the federal government,” according to public statements. “Everything from scams affecting the intelligence community, the defense community, agriculture, they really run the gamut. They have already been going after ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ and returning hundreds of millions of dollars back to the federal coffers,” as one justice department official explained.
Track Record and Recent Developments
The DOJ’s Antitrust Division has been particularly active in recent years. Between 2022 and 2024, the division secured 13 plea agreements related to publicly disclosed schemes, including cases involving Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations and bribery schemes in countries like Nepal and South Africa, according to analysis from legal experts.
Paxton’s embrace of the Strike Force comes with some irony. Just over a year ago, the Texas Appeals Court rejected the Attorney General’s argument that the state’s Whistleblower Act shouldn’t apply to elected officials—a position he took after former employees alleged misconduct within his office.
Still, Paxton framed the new partnership as a continuation of his office’s existing work. “By combining our expertise and resources with those of President Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and the U.S. Department of Justice to crack down on anticompetitive conduct, we will help protect Texans and taxpayers across the country,” he added.
The collaboration represents one of several recent moves by state attorneys general to align with federal enforcement priorities, particularly in areas where there’s potential political advantage in being seen as tough on corporate wrongdoing.
For Texas taxpayers, the ultimate measure of the partnership’s success will be straightforward: how many corrupt schemes are exposed, how many dollars are saved, and whether the enforcement actions target wrongdoing regardless of political connections—a standard that remains to be tested as the collaboration moves forward.
