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Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has scrapped plans for a new ablution station after Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened to pull state grant money over it.

Some shit you should know before you dig in: If you’re unaware, wudu is the washing ritual practicing Muslims perform before each of the five daily prayers, and an ablution station is the plumbing that makes it possible in a public building. The fixtures sit low to the ground with a seat beside them so someone can wash their feet without climbing into a bathroom sink. DFW already has at least two of them on the secure side of its international terminal, and George Bush Intercontinental in Houston put in a dedicated washing and prayer space back in 2024.

What’s going on now: DFW Airport confirmed Friday that it is dropping the project, which would have put another station on the public side of the international terminal, before security. The airport said it weighs operational benefits, customer service, risk, and cost on every proposed project, and that the sudden public attention pushed it to move that review up. It concluded the station would not deliver what was originally expected of it.

That came after critics seized on the plan last week, and after Abbott sent a letter to the airport authority warning that its state grant money was under review. “My office is actively reviewing all grants to any local governmental entities involved in these schemes for possible revocation of past grant money and cancellation of any future funds that have been dedicated by my Office,” Abbott wrote.

He sent separate letters to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and US Attorney General Todd Blanche asking the Trump administration to review every existing Muslim accommodation at both airports, arguing the facilities themselves are unlawful. “These facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion. I am unaware of either airport installing standalone facilities to meet the particular needs of the many other religious groups represented across Texas,” he wrote.

CAIR, which Abbott declared a foreign terrorist organization last year in a designation the group is fighting in court, called the entire episode manufactured. The group pointed out that the station would have been open to any traveler and compared it to interfaith prayer rooms and bidets. It also noted that Abbott signed a law requiring the Ten Commandments in every Texas classroom and that the state Board of Education made Bible stories mandatory reading. “Instead of wasting taxpayer resources on this latest anti-Muslim political stunt, Governor Abbott should focus on the state’s real problems under his leadership, from harmful data centers to school shootings to economic inequality to the erosion of religious freedom,” CAIR said.

Yasir Qadhi, a prominent Dallas-area imam, pushed back in a Facebook post Saturday. “Muslims are not asking airports to endorse Islam. They are asking for the same principle that has long guided our nation: people of different faiths should be able to practice their sincerely held beliefs while participating fully in public life,” he wrote.