End Taxpayer Funding of DEI Programs

Americans demand accountability.

Taxpayers are forced to relinquish an ever-growing portion of their hard-earned money to support the dictates of unelected bureaucrats pursuing goals that run counter to American values and the proper functioning of government systems. Lacking any real oversight mechanisms, those in charge of our bureaucracy have created a labyrinth of programs serving Diversity Equity and Inclusivity (DEI) instead of the public. The unnecessarily complex administrative structures are designed to ensure that there is minimal accountability.

While resting comfortably behind a regulatory maze intended to dissuade righteous opposition, diversity zealots drawing their salaries from the economically productive activity of hard-working U.S. citizens are stealing our government and country. They have steadfastly armed themselves with Executive Orders (EO) that have no legislative backing and are predicated on dubious legal ground. Using their protected positions as a cover, they have relinquished their responsibility to act as honorable stewards and squandered our children’s birthright. They have betrayed our trust, pursued divisive DEI programs, insulted our values, and damaged our national security.

DEI EOs without the full endorsement of legislation is a self-inflicted wound. Why?

EOs have no power to appropriate and allocate funding. Only Congress has the power of the purse. Money for DEI must be taken from somewhere, so if DEI programs are enacted by EO, another program incurs a financial loss. In 2022-2023, the State Department spent $77 million on DEI, and requested an additional $84 million in 2024 to push an ideological agenda. Much of that money is going abroad to spread this administration's DEI agenda in foreign countries on every continent. Many foreign countries find the rainbow flag hanging above our embassies offensive, but the State Department believes that “inequity is a national security challenge." This has become more important than ensuring the American flag is respected overseas. In just three years, the State Department alone will have spent $160 million in taxpayer funds to sponsor government DEI programs. What are the costs of DEI across the rest of the sprawling federal bureaucracy?

We have learned from our experience with the COVID-19 mandates that this administration will do anything to expand its power and control. What is imposed on federal employees will also be imposed on the American public. It is already happening. Women in the federal service are forced to use gender neutral bathrooms in their workplaces and acknowledge their male colleagues as "she," "her," "they," or "them" based on personal preference instead of biological fact, with the threat of firing for misgendering always looming. This is supported by the radical administration ruling our country through executive fiat. We were told through years of COVID mandates to "follow the science," but now biological reality has become irrelevant and subordinate to the goal of further suppression of free speech and religious expression. This administration will stop at nothing to undermine our American values and destroy this country.

On his fourth day in office, President Biden reversed a previous policy that only allowed troops to serve based on their biological sex. Now, not only do taxpayers have to financially support the demands of military members seeking to undergo genital mutilation, but male and female soldiers tasked with protecting our country both at home and abroad must live with members of the opposite sex based on the whims of individuals with diagnosed gender dysphoria. This does not make our country stronger or keep our citizens safer.

It is time for this madness to end. We must denounce the radical ideologies behind DEI and oppose all initiatives to encode DEI in federal policies. DEI programs do not make our federal agencies more effective; they weaken our government by creating a culture of fear, resentment, and division.

We, the federal employees and contractors of Feds For Freedom, call for a complete ban of taxpayer funding for DEI programming within the federal government. We pledge to pursue all morally and legally permissible avenues to rid our government of this divisive and harmful agenda. We will not rest until we have a federal service that prioritizes the interests of its citizens, rather than an ideological trend that saps our resources and damages our national security. We demand accountability for the expenditure of our tax dollars and the allocation of resources for the good of the nation. It is time for our federal government to renounce the DEI agenda and focus on the business of unifying and strengthening our country.

For more information about Feds For Freedom, please click to visit www.fedsforfreedom.org.