Government Spending Aimed at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts Has Exploded Under Biden Administration

Consulting firms that helped to push forward the diversity, equity and inclusion agenda of the outgoing Biden Administration scored a windfall by capitalizing on the initiatives, according to a new report from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.Senior Fellow Christopher Rufo says that a search of contracts, grants, and other programs that mentioned “diversity, equity, and inclusion” shows that the firms netted more than $1 billion from federal contracts last year.The author’s findings show a rapid increase from 2019, when the federal government spent only $27 million in contracts that mention diversity and inclusion.“But after the death of George Floyd in 2020, the federal government and private contractors went all-in on DEI, seeking to implement the Biden administration’s ‘whole-of-government’ equity agenda,” Mr. Rufo writes in an article for The Manhattan Institute’s publication, City Journal.A report from McKinsey and Company found that $7.5 billion was spent globally on “DEI-related efforts in 2022 and that the number could rise to over $15 billion by 2026.In January 2021, President Biden unveiled a new DEI agenda with a series of executive orders that directed federal agencies to increase DEI training programs, provide support to employees who choose to transition to another gender, appoint a “chief diversity officer” and “agency equity teams,” and submit annual plans to a White House steering committee.“The large consulting firms advertised the adoption of DEI as a moral imperative. They boasted of their spending on diversity to demonstrate their credentials,” Mr. Rufo writes, pointing out as an example that global accounting firm Deloitte claimed in an Executive Summary on DEI, released in January 2024, to have spent $1.47 billion on “diverse suppliers.”Federal agencies also started handing out big-money contracts for DEI initiatives after the Biden administration’s agenda was released. The U.S. Department of the Treasury gave $2.8 Million to Accenture Federal Services to help implement DEI. The Department of Health and Human Services drafted a $2.9 million contract for Native-American-focused fintech firm Totem, which shuttered its doors in August. The Department of Defense gave Tyler Federal $3.3 million for DEI “database services,” according to the report.One of President Trump’s leading platforms during his campaign was that he would combat current DEI initiatives, particularly in our nation’s education system, calling them a form of “indoctrination” forced upon students and that he would order the Department of Justice to take action.“[They would] pursue federal civil rights cases against schools that continue to engage in racial discrimination and schools that persist in explicit unlawful discrimination under the guise of equity,” he said in a video posted on X and proposed restitution payments by taxing schools given DEI endowments.“[A] portion of the seized funds will then be used as restitution for victims of these illegal and unjust policies, policies that hurt our country so badly,” he said.

Government Spending Aimed at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts Has Exploded Under Biden Administration

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