Oversight Committee Democrats Oppose Extreme GOP Bill to Gut Anti-Discrimination Efforts, Undermine Civil Rights

Washington, D.C. (November 22, 2024)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, led Committee Democrats in opposing Republicans’ radical legislation ending all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, fighting for the protections of all Americans and progress made on civil rights and equity. 

“I strongly oppose this so-called Dismantle DEI Act of 2024 … A federal workforce that actually reflects the diversity of our country makes us stronger.  The largest employer in the United States has the responsibility to lead the way and to actually model what it means to be open to everybody,” said Ranking Member Raskin in his statement. 

H.R. 8706 Dismantle DEI Act of 2024

The bill aims to eliminate all federal funding, programs, and offices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion across the government.  It rescinds President Biden’s executive orders promoting equity and abolishes all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion offices.  Moreover, it bans the transfer or reassignment of federal employees working in diversity, equity, and inclusion offices to other offices or agencies, effectively ensuring their removal from federal service.  The bill also bars federal contractors and grant recipients from engaging in any diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. 

Committee Democrats underscored the value of diversity within our federal workforce, opposing Republicans’ attempts to deny historic discrimination and undermine efforts to improve workplace safety and inclusion.

• Rep. Summer Lee emphasized:  “After centuries of efforts to keep us out of schools and universities, from jobs and elected office, Republicans targeting these policies are no accident.  Why do predominantly conservative white men believe that the success of a Black person or the opportunity or access of a Black person is an existential threat to them?  DEI has not given any unfair advantage that society itself does not already confer on certain Americans.  It merely exists to ensure that all other people, that women, minoritized folks, queer folks, disabled folks have the same opportunities to succeed and thrive.”
   
• Rep. Kweisi Mfume argued:  “…to now amend that 1964 Civil Rights Act sends the wrong message, whether intended or not, to most affected groups, and I can tell you it definitely sends the wrong message to Black people in this country … If we follow the mandates of Project 2025, and if we are reducing force, threatening federal employees by changing Schedule F requirements, doing other things that put us on a slippery slope, I don’t want to be a part of that.”
   
• Rep. Shontel Brown said:  “It would allow the firing of LGBTQ+ people for the sole reason that they took a position that upholds a mission of building a federal workforce that reflects the communities it serves.  And it would coldly fire veterans and their spouses who make up more than 30% of all federal employees … Our nation’s strength is in its diversity.  Our federal workforce must embody that strength.” 

• Rep. Rashida Tlaib explained the importance of federal employees with diverse lived experiences:  “Their lived experience is going to have them lead with some sort of compassion that we’ll never again have similar because we haven’t lived the life that they have in our country.” 

Committee Democrats called out Republicans for defending a bill that could actually enable more discrimination, particularly against federal employees who happen to serve in diversity, equity and inclusion offices. Under the bill, these federal workers would be immediately fired from federal service and ineligible for transfer or reassignment to other offices.

• Rep. Jared Moskowitz explained to his Republican colleagues, with this bill,  “…You are creating second-class federal employees.  You’re creating new discrimination.  May not transfer:  discrimination.  May not reassign: discrimination.  May not redesignate any employee: discrimination.  Those are protections that every other federal employee in every other office in the federal government gets.  It’s a right and a privilege that they get, but you’re going to remove that from these people, not an office.”
   
• In response to the nonsensical claim that focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion is somehow discriminatory, Rep. Summer Lee added:  “Contrary to Republican conjecture, remedying past discrimination is not in turn a ‘discrimination.’  And we’re not going to sit here, and pretend racism is over just because one Black person on the Supreme Court agreed that it should be.  What DEI does not do is give some kind of magical pass to get better jobs, like some of our colleagues are implying.  That middle word, equity, does not mean more than or better than.  It means treating people fairly and impartially.  It means working to fix generational and systemic discrimination to the betterment of all of us and all of our institutions.”
   
• Rep. Ayanna Pressley pointed out:  “We are debating legislation that denies the sky is blue, water is wet, and racism is real.  The major provision of the bill is supposed to ban anything that acknowledges racism, and a few pages later, in the exact same bill, there are multiple provisions discussing the presence of racism.  This Republican approach is as predictable as it is nonsensical.  On one hand, they are saying that racism does not exist.  On the other hand, they are saying there is rampant ‘reverse racism.’ How do you reverse something that never existed in the first place? Riddle me that.”