FOX 1st – Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, calls out President Biden and his administration's Department of Education for failing to meet certain diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring criteria. They are calling for the immediate reversal of funding denials to Montana universities. standard.
“The Biden administration's decision to strip critical funding from local schools is another one-size-fits-all policy by Washington bureaucrats who don't understand Montana,” the senator said in a statement exclusive to Fox News Digital. It's just an example.”
“I call on the Biden administration and the Department of Education to immediately reverse this decision, because Montana students matter most.” [made-up] D.C. Employment Practices. ”
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Mr. Tester (right) called on Mr. Biden's Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona (left), to reverse his denial of grants to Montana's university system. (Reuters)
Tester, who is putting his political career on the line in a fierce re-election battle in a traditionally Republican state, wrote in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona last month that there is insufficient diversity in hiring practices. for the first time raised concerns about the denial of funding.
He said the department “rejected Montana's application based on unfair scoring decisions primarily related to subjective diversity hiring requirements and failed to recognize the work already being done on this front.” I am deeply troubled by this observation.”
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The senator's office said Montana State “failed to provide sufficient detail about the university's recruiting practices” after receiving the Gaining Early Recognition and Preparation for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant for 25 years. Biden's DOE has denied federal funding to the University System of Montana. A diverse group of individuals. ”
The refusal was “embarrassing” for the DOE, Tester said.
The DOE told Fox News Digital it received the letter and is reviewing it. Tester's office confirmed that despite being contacted on September 9, they had not yet received a response.
The Biden administration's sharp criticism of its implementation of DEI standards sets it apart from the party, which has generally supported the initiative. Meanwhile, Republicans have criticized continued efforts to prioritize diversity over talent in hiring.
In less than a month, Democrats in Montana will face Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL, in one of the most competitive races in the nation. Recently, several political handicappers have suggested that Sheehy has an advantage in the election.
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Political handicaps make Sheehy the favorite to win. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)
A spokesperson for the Sheehy campaign criticized Tester's stance on the Biden administration regarding DEI, telling Fox News Digital, “Jon Tester said that when he voted to exclude white farmers from aid simply because they are white, , loved Wake's radical leftist policies and supported AOC's Green New Deal.” and went ahead to blame Biden's border crisis on climate change. ”
“After voting for Biden and Harris 95% of the time, the Two-Faced Tester is taking the Tester Two-Step right before the election because he wants to give back to the political career that made him rich. Because he's a desperate career politician who's doing everything he can to protect” Washington. ”
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Tester does not support Harris. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
According to , Tester voted for Biden 90% of the time in the last Congress. 538. During the first half of the 118th Congress, he voted The ratio with the president is approximately 95%.
The three-term senator has refrained from explicitly endorsing Vice President Harris in the presidential race, repeatedly telling reporters that he is focusing on Montana and his own race.
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But critics have pushed back against Harris, pointing to reports that she was responsible for getting Harris to run for the Senate in 2015, when she was chair of the Democratic Party's Senate campaign committee. are.
Tester's camp did not comment to Fox News Digital by the time of publication.
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