The Biden
State Department
is asking Congress for $76 million to fund its
diversity, equity, and inclusion
initiatives.
Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, the State Department’s first chief diversity and inclusion officer, testified before
Congress
Tuesday morning asking for $76 million to increase her staff, track race and gender demographics in the department, and track employee reports of discrimination, harassment, and bullying.
“The Department needs an inclusive workforce with equitable opportunities to ensure our foreign policy is as strong, smart, and creative as it can be,” her
written testimony
states.
Abercrombie-Winstanley’s office audited State Department employees to gain demographic information on “race, ethnicity, gender, status of disability, grade, rank, and job series skill codes.” She said her office plans to release an annual report tracking “trend lines” for department employees.
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Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability, opened the committee by telling Abercrombie-Winstanley directly, “Ma’am, I believe that your office is mandating division within the State Department.”
“This office has a clever name that uses strong emotional words — diversity, equity, inclusion — but functionally does the opposite of what America has always stood for, which is very simply the best man, the best woman for the job,” he continued. “This office is giving people the impression or given many people outside of the State Department the sense that it is looking for a preferred race or at minimum not white, that it is looking for a preferred religion or at minimum not Christian, or that it is looking for a preferred sexual orientation or identity or at minimum not straight male.”
DEI initiatives will also be pushed abroad, as Abercrombie-Winstanley said State Department employees “experience discrimination by foreign customs and immigration officials.” Her office encourages reporting the conduct to host nation governments, adding that they have already secured “official apologies and commitments to new training procedures.”
Taking the DEI case abroad does not stop at harassment from foreign customs officers, as the Biden administration has made a point of flying
Black Lives Matter
and
gay Pride
flags at embassies across the globe, including at the Holy See.
In her office’s 2022-2026 strategic plan is a picture of Abercrombie-Winstanley
attending
a “Progress Pride” flag raising outside the State Department’s Harry S. Truman Building.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, a State Department spokesperson said DEI is a “national security imperative,” adding that “diversity is one of our greatest national strengths” that gives the United States a “comparative advantage” over other countries.
“Those who want to talk about merit also want to ignore the history of this country,” said Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), the ranking member of the subcommittee, who added that he was “appalled” by Mast’s opening statement. “They want to ignore the fact that the playing field is not level for vast swaths of our country because that is not a convenient fact for them.”
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The State Department recently began tracking its spending but established a “budget code.” Abercrombie-Winstanley said 10% of her requested $76 million would go to her office, and the rest would be distributed to the other bureaus in the department for DEI use.
The Biden administration has made a major push for DEI across the government, signing several executive orders directing executive agencies to develop DEI strategic plans.
