A bill aimed at ending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies in the federal government has passed its first hurdle in the House.
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability voted along party lines to advance the Dismantle DEI Act to a full House vote.
The legislation was first introduced by Vice President-elect Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) earlier this year.
In introducing the legislation, Vance argued that the DEI agenda is a “destructive ideology” that breeds division and does not have a place in the federal government or society as a whole.
Cloud believes that DEI initiatives in the federal government are divisive, wasteful, and a “huge step back” for the country. The Dismantle DEI Act would restore accountability by eliminating DEI offices, removing mandates on federal contractors, and ensuring taxpayer dollars serve all Americans, according to Cloud.
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion are three words that don’t necessarily mean what they think they mean,” Cloud said during the committee’s hearing on Wednesday. “In spite of the altruistic motives of some of the purveyors of it, diversity, equity and inclusion—as it’s been initiated in our federal government as an ideology—seeks to categorize individuals based on their immutable characteristics. It is a rejection of the principles that people should be judged on the content of their character and their individual achievement rather than their sex, race, national origin, or ethnicity.”
He said it took a civil war and civil rights movement for the United States to move past such divisive treatment of citizens.
“To codify discrimination in an effort to remove discrimination is a woeful, woeful initiative, and would undo generations of progress we have made as a nation on this,” he said.
DEI policies are typically used to counter discriminatory behaviors in the settings of the workplace, higher education, and various programs.
Critics, however, have argued that race, gender, and sexual orientation should not be used to single out particular individuals.
Ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said that advancing such a bill would turn back the clock on the progress that the country has made.
Raskin pointed out that there is a provision in the bill that would fire all government workers from offices related to DEI, including veterans, and also ban them from being reassigned to another government job. The workers would have to apply for jobs alongside other applicants. Raskin said that this reflects the “sloppiness” and “recklessness” of the legislation.
President Joe Biden issued an executive order in June 2021 calling for federal agencies to prioritize DEI across the federal government. By contrast, the incoming Trump administration has signaled it will move away from such policies of enforcing equality of outcome.