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Dozens of Federal Entities Developed ‘Equity Action Plans’ as Part of Biden-Harris Whole-of-Government DEI Push
A new report from Do No Harm reveals the extent to which DEI has permeated nearly ever facet of the federal government.
The Biden administration has taken a whole-of-government approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion resulting in hundreds of initiatives across federal agencies.
Over the past four years, more than 80 federal entities have developed “Equity Action Plans” leading to over 500 active or planned DEI actions, according to a report from medical watchdog Do No Harm obtained by National Review.
“Discrimination has no place in our society and certainly not in our federal government. This report documents hundreds of examples of harmful identity politics leading to differing governmental programs depending on race or sexual orientation. It is alarming that these programs, including in the way government regulates medicine and cares for our veterans, not only were implemented but encouraged and celebrated,” said Do No Harm chairman Stanley Goldfarb.
Do No Harm separated the federal DEI programs into different sectors such as health, national security, law, science and nature, and federal-state partnerships.
“A comprehensive review of the federal government discovered that over 80 federal entities submitted ‘Equity Action Plans,’ revealing more than 500 DEI actions that those entities either took or planned to take,” the report reads.
The Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration lead the way on DEI actions with over 20 each. The Social Security Administration initiated 20 DEI actions and the Office of Personnel Management undertook 19 during Biden’s presidency.
A high-profile case cited in the report is NASA’s Artemis missions to launch a woman and racial minority into space. Besides that, NASA raised its total grant awards to historically black colleges and universities by 39.9 percent, or $1.36 million, in 2022 as it expanded its “equity” focus. NASA also awarded $11 million to HBCUs to build data-science networks as part of the data equity access program overseen by its Minority University Research and Education Project.
Various federal agencies developed similar funding and professional support initiatives explicitly catered to racial minorities and women. For instance, the Department of Education allocated $122 billion of American Rescue Plan funds to Title I schools with the goal of supporting racial minorities and homeless students in low-income school districts. Likewise, the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology awarded $9.7 million to “minority-serving institutions” to support research and workforce development opportunities.
Plenty of the initiatives listed were bureaucratic, workplace initiatives that expanded the presence of DEI professionals and panels inside the government agencies and set new DEI goals for the agencies to reach. An exemplary case is the Environmental Protection Agency’s creation of an office of environmental justice and external civil rights. Another instance of this was the Federal Trade Commission’s plan to hire a chief diversity officer to bring “equity” expertise and develop “equity” initiatives.
President Joe Biden made “equity” an agenda item on day one of his term with an executive order on “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.”
Biden’s order gave agencies a mandate to enact sweeping DEI policies and make DEI a priority. Last year, Biden signed another executive order mandating agencies establish “equity teams” and develop “equity action plans” to break down the agency’s steps to make DEI part of its mission.
“Though it’s no surprise activists and politicians have pushed this corrosive ideology, that DEI has permeated our institutions of power to such a degree in less than four years reminds us why it is so important to stand up for merit and equality, not equity and division,” Goldfarb added.
“The same government that is charged with protecting the American people from discrimination cannot also perpetuate it. Our leaders must root this out and return to our founding principles.”
DEI policies became commonplace across American institutions following the George Floyd race riots and broader cultural reckoning progressives foisted upon the country in 2020. Although corporations and universities have started scaling it back, DEI remains a staple of many American institutions and a profitable industry for its practitioners.
DEI staffers and proponents often promote identity-based hiring, support groups, and educational opportunities that are only accessible to people from groups considered to be marginalized. They also promote a race-oriented view of American history and a radical reframing of the American founding through a racial lens.
Conservatives have fought some of these programs with lawsuits alleging they violate anti-discrimination laws found in the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fourteenth Amendment. The most impactful victory for conservatives came last year when the Supreme Court ruled race-based college admissions policies violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, therefore barring universities from adopting them.