KEY VOTE: Cosponsorship of the Dismantle DEI Act (S. 382 / H.R. 925)

The Dismantle DEI Act (S. 382 / H.R. 925), introduced by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) and Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), is a comprehensive proposal to eliminate taxpayer funding of federal offices, programs, grants, and trainings designed to instill “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI). The bill rescinds numerous DEI executive orders and agency memorandums and requires the Office of Personnel Management to eliminate related agency DEI policies and procedures. Importantly, the bill asserts individuals' right to file a lawsuit if any provisions are violated.

”Diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programs place outcomes ahead of opportunities. They are at the root of modern policies that choose winners and losers based on immutable characteristics such as race and sex—the very circumstance the civil rights movement aimed to eliminate. Congress has an opportunity and responsibility to dismantle the disastrous government DEI apparatus, as well as its pernicious legal regimes like discriminatory “disparate impact” rules. The Dismantle DEI Act ensures that this destructive ideology has no quarter in our government offices, programs, grants, or trainings.

Government employees and contractors are required to take a variety of training courses to be in good standing at work. Even five years ago, most of these training sessions were focused on strengthening core competencies such as leadership development, project management, and other skills. Now, employees and contractors are subjected to ideological struggle sessions at taxpayers’ expense. While federal grant competitions have been infused with some political considerations for too long, they tended to be primarily merit-based. Now, they are filled with DEI statements and other requirements, resulting in weaker standards and worse outcomes. Allocating federal resources based on DEI benchmarks is flatly unconstitutional, un-American, and ultimately a disservice to the American taxpayers who are forced to fund it.

Federally-funded DEI programs and policies instigate civilizational unrest. These malign efforts—which have become commonplace in schools, workplaces, and government agencies nationwide—encourage racial categorization and segregation, stoke division, and assign individuals’ status on the victim-oppressor continuum. The Dismantle DEI Act enshrines the value of opportunity in our government policy by holistically ending these oppressive practices.