The FBI said it closed down its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) office, which Republicans have faulted for prioritizing identity politics over competence and national security.
“In recent weeks, the FBI took steps to close the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), effective by December 2024,” the agency stated.
Responding to the FBI’s shutdown of its DEI office, incoming president Trump directed the agency to preserve all records related to the radical office, accusing it of massive corruption.
“We demand that the FBI preserve and retain all records, documents, and information on the now closing DEI Office—Never should have been opened and, if it was, should have closed long ago. Why is it that they’re closing one day before the Inauguration of a new Administration? The reason is, CORRUPTION!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Shortly after the New Year’s New Orleans terrorist attack, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-7) wrote to the outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray, warning that the agency’s radical Left DEI practices endangered the safety of Americans.
Coincidentally, a prohibited nose ring-wearing Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Alethea Duncan, initially declared the attack as “not a terrorist event,” highlighting the agency’s deterioration in competence and adherence to its own rules.
According to the agency’s guidelines, “Facial piercings are not permitted, except for female trainees, who are authorized to wear earrings.”
Subsequently, the special agent’s appearance did not impress netizens, who blasted the agency for lowering standards to achieve its DEI mandates.
Special Agent Duncan apparently removed the nose ring during the next briefing after the online backlash.
The FBI’s DEI initiatives have also previously attracted scrutiny from Republican lawmakers, who accused the agency of prioritizing DEI over national security.
In May 2024, then House Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-4) opened an inquiry into the FBI’s DEI hiring and retention practices after noting “alarming trends” in the selection process.
Like the military, the FBI’s DEI hiring initiatives have allegedly resulted in declining interest from highly qualified individuals, seemingly discouraged by the discriminative DEI selection criteria.
“From that time forward, we understand that the FBI has struggled with attracting enough qualified applicants from all desired target groups to sustain its mission. This is likely due to the FBI re-focusing its recruitment efforts on DEI statistics,” Rep. Jordan stated.
According to Sen. Blackburn, the FBI “settled for lower quality candidates to satisfy DEI mandates” and “prioritized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives over its core mission of protecting the American people.”
She cited a report detailing how the agency selected lower quality candidates “to become FBI Special Agents because they satisfy the FBI’s priority to meet Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) mandates.”
Obviously, this comes at the expense of highly qualified individuals who do not meet the DEI criteria of race, gender, and sexual orientation.
Additionally, the agency lowered its “physical fitness, illicit drug use, financial irregularities, mental health, full-time work experience, and integrity” requirements to attract more DEI hires.
The FBI’s DEI initiative dates back to the Obama era when he established a program to “promote a diverse and inclusive workplace.” When outgoing president Joe Biden took office in 2021, the agency appointed its first chief diversity officer, Scott McMillion, to fast-track DEI initiatives and initiate a “cultural shift.”
Nonetheless, President Trump has promised to roll back DEI practices across various government agencies, including what he termed as “race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating.”
Additionally, various companies, including Walmart, McDonald’s, Meta, Amazon, Ford, and John Deere, have already announced that they will voluntarily cut back on their DEI programs.
