U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis, (R-WY) is joining fellow Senator JD Vance, (R-OH) in introducing legislation to eliminate the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government. This bill will protect the people of Wyoming’s tax dollars against what she calls, “woke spending priorities.”
Diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs have come under attack in boardrooms, state legislatures and college campuses across the country.
DEI is a set of principles designed to make people of various backgrounds – including socio-economic class, race, gender and physical ability – feel supported, welcomed, and safe. In a business context, it’s meant to set up marginalized workers for the same success as their peers.
Since 2023, 81 anti-DEI bills that target programs at colleges have been introduced in 28 states and in Congress, according to a tally by the Chronicle of Higher Education, according to CNN. Eight have been signed into law, in states like Texas and Florida.
A 2023 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 52% of employed U.S. adults say they have DEI trainings or meetings at work, and 33% say they have a designated staff member who promotes DEI.
But recently, some companies have slashed teams dedicated to DEI and wealthy corporate leaders such as Bill Ackman and Elon Musk have made posts on social media that decried diversity programs.
Critics say DEI programs are discriminatory and attempt to solve racial discrimination by disadvantaging other groups, particularly White Americans. But supporters and industry experts insist the decades-old practice has been politicized and is widely misunderstood.
“DEI programs are not about promoting fairness, they are about exacerbating discourse and worsening racial biases, and there is no place for these divisive initiatives within the federal government,” says Lummis. “Wyoming’s tax dollars should not be funding this harmful ideology, and I am partnering with Senator Vance to put an end to this administration’s unnecessary political pandering.”
The Dismantle DEI Act eliminates DEI programs within the federal government and rescinds President Biden’s executive orders surrounding DEI by outlawing mandatory employee DEI pledges, ending DEI trainings, preventing educational accreditation agencies from leveraging their position to push DEI policies in education institutions, among other measures.
