Republicans in Congress unveiled a bill on Wednesday geared toward getting rid of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal bureaucracy that have been embraced by the Biden administration.
The 48-page bill seeks to “ensure equal protection of the law, to prevent racism in the Federal Government.” It targets not only federal offices and personnel but also training, contractors, grants, advisory committees, education, and other matters.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who is a contender to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate in this year’s election, introduced the “Dismantle DEI Act” in the Senate while Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) introduced the House version.
“The DEI agenda is a destructive ideology that breeds hatred and racial division. It has no place in our federal government or anywhere else in our society,” Vance said in a statement accompanying the release of the legislation.
President Joe Biden has signed multiple executive orders to infuse DEI into the federal bureaucracy. In a recent speech, Biden said the values of DEI “are the core strength of America” and touted having the “most diverse administration in history.”
As reported by The Daily Wire, the Biden administration has leveraged race and sexuality-based employee associations to push for leftwing policies within the administrative state. A prior GOP bill sought to cut funding to medical schools incorporating DEI.
Vance’s office said in a press release that his more sweeping bill would nix certain executive orders, terminate chief diversity officers, end critical race theory trainings, ban mandatory employee DEI pledges, and revoke DEI funding for federal agencies.
The bill also would cease federal contracts to companies that have “prohibited DEI practices,” prevent federal grant recipients across multiple injustices from employing DEI policies, and crack down on DEI-supporting educational accreditation agencies.
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Cloud said in a statement that DEI-oriented “initiatives, presented as promoting fairness, have instead fostered division and racial bias within our institutions and culture – which is not conducive to serving taxpayers well.”
The “Dismantle DEI Act” is a “necessary step to restore merit and equality, not equity, in America’s government institutions, and eliminate the DEI bureaucracy that sows division and wastes taxpayer money,” Cloud added.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), and Rick Scott (R-FL) are co-sponsors of the anti-DEI bill in the Democrat-controlled Senate. The legislation has 15 co-sponsors in the GOP-led House.
