Biden Ramps Up Search for DEI Hires Ahead of Trump Administration

Within 10 days of President-elect Donald Trump’s landslide victory, 33 DEI-related jobs were posted by the federal government. Now, with barely a month until Trump takes office, The Daily Wire reported that the feds are “currently in the process of hiring as many as 1,200 employees to work on … [diversity, equity, and inclusion]—employees who would be embedded into the permanent federal workforce headed into the Trump administration.”

The outlet noted that the posted “jobs have annual salaries of up to $310,000 and could add up to total salary payouts of $160 million a year.” One example was the job listed by the Department of Health and Human Services on Nov. 15. The position was a deputy assistant secretary for Minority Health, and it was meant to “promote health equity” with a possible salary of up to $221,900.

A job the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is looking to fill is described as the “Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion.” This position handles “the development, implementation, and ongoing review and renewal of the FDIC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan,” among other duties.

The FDIC is also looking into hiring a director for its Office of Equal Employment who would be tasked to develop “Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA), employee development, employee performance, and other personnel plans, processes, [and] programs.”

Notably, should people be hired for these jobs, taxpayers would fund their salaries. These are hires “the Trump administration had no say in selecting, … [who will be advocating] for DEI policies the Trump administration does not support,” DW highlighted. The jobs outlined here are only a fraction of the “equal employment opportunity specialists” the government seems littered with. However, it appears that while the government is boosting its supply of DEI, corporate America is actively ridding it from their shelves.

In a short timeframe, several big-name companies have chosen to scratch (or significantly decrease) their DEI programs and initiatives. Walmart was one of the more recent examples. Robby Starbuck, the activist who has led the charge in calling on companies to scrap their DEI initiatives, considered Walmart’s abandonment of the woke policies as “the biggest win yet.”

Other brands that have retreated on “woke” policies include Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle, Lowe’s, Ford, Coors, Black & Decker, Jack Daniels, DeWalt tools, Craftsman, Caterpillar, Boeing, and Toyota. Even American Airlines recently said it will “no longer be recruiting and hiring based on the dictates of [DEI].”

This decision came after America First Legal filed a complaint against the airline, stating that its policy was “a violation of federal laws that protect equal access to employment.” After hearing the news that American Airlines would drop its “discriminatory employment practices,” America First Legal’s Will Scolinos stated, “American companies must return to using merit—not the desire to check a DEI box—to select the most skilled and qualified employees.” Evidently, these opinions are shared by Americans far outside the realm of airfare.

So, if several companies are scaling back due to consumer activism, why is the government choosing to ramp up their DEI forces? Family Research Council’s Meg Kilgannon, who served in the first Trump administration, weighed in. According to Kilgannon, a lot of it simply boils down to the different priorities of the two political parties. As she told The Washington Stand, “Presidential administrations are known for trying to ensconce likeminded employees in the federal bureaucracy. Democratic administrations are exceptionally agile in this area.”

“I am not in favor of DEI, but we know it will be a priority of the incoming Trump administration to eliminate these positions,” Kilgannon emphasized. Additionally, she stated how she wishes DEI employees “wouldn’t be hired at all.” However, she concluded, “We can at least hope that the situation will be addressed in just a few weeks” once Trump reoccupies the White House.

Originally published by The Washington Stand

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