Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio and several other Republicans in Washington, D.C., are proposing legislation that would dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs across federal agencies.
Governor Vance announced his DEI Dismantling Bill on Wednesday, which aims to eliminate all federal DEI programs and funding for federal agencies, contractors, organizations, and educational accrediting agencies.
Vance introduced the bill in the Senate, and Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) introduced it in the House.
Joining the lawmakers as co-sponsors are Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Kevin Cramer (Physician of the Royal Society), Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), as well as 15 other House members.
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Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio and other Republican lawmakers introduced the DEI Dismantlement Act on Wednesday, which would ban the federal government from implementing such programs. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“The DEI agenda is a destructive ideology that sows hatred and racial division. It has no place in the federal government or anywhere in our society,” Vance said. “I am proud to introduce this bill, which will eradicate DEI from the federal bureaucracy by eliminating programs like DEI and stripping funding from every place DEI policy exists. Americans’ tax dollars should not be used to spread this extreme and divisive ideology, and this bill will stop that from happening.”
According to Vance, the proposed bill would roll back the DEI policies that President Biden and his administration have implemented across all federal agencies.
He also plans to revoke related executive orders, fire the Chief Diversity Officer, close the DEI office, end DEI and critical race theory training, ban mandatory employee DEI pledges, and revoke all DEI funding at the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and other agencies.
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Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have been the subject of fierce commentary, both praised and criticized. (Adobe Stock)
“DEI practices have no place in the federal government,” Cloud said. “These efforts, supposedly promoting equity, instead foster division and racial bias in our institutions and culture, and do not result in better service to taxpayers. This bill is a necessary step to restore merit and equality, not equity, to America’s government agencies and eliminate the DEI bureaucracy that is divisive and wastes taxpayer money.”
In addition to reversing policies put in place by the Biden administration, the bill would bar organizations that employ prohibited DEI practices from winning federal contracts.
Vance said about $1 trillion worth of federal contracts were awarded last year to companies specializing in industries like defense, construction and aerospace.
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If passed, the proposed bill could block federal grant recipients from adopting DEI practices and also prevent educational accrediting agencies from using their authority to promote and implement DEI policies at educational institutions.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Democratic leaders about the bill, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
The bill comes as House Republicans focus on a must-pass defense policy bill this year as a way to counter the left-leaning Biden administration’s policies on diversity, LGBTQ representation and gender ideology.
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Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have proposed a bill called the “DEI Repeal Act” that would eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across federal agencies. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
More than 1,300 amendments have been proposed to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (NDAA), the annual legislation that sets out Department of Defense priorities and Department of Energy national security-related actions.
Among those proposed amendments are at least 10 amendments to DEI initiatives within the Department of Defense.
Some of them aim to eliminate the Defense Department’s two main diversity offices — the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Defense Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion — and their staffs.
A bill sponsored by Reps. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) would prohibit U.S. military academies from using federal funds to establish DEI offices. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has introduced a broad initiative to block funding appropriated by the NDAA for DEI programs, offices or personnel.
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The House’s current NDAA text includes a provision that would block Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin from establishing DEI-related committees or groups for schools that receive Department of Defense funding.
Of note is an amendment introduced by Democratic-led Rep. Shawntel Brown (D-Ohio) to block this policy.
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
