Ending DEI Requires Largest Demotion Operation in American History

President-elect Donald Trump has promised the “largest deportation operation in American history.”  The operation is necessitated by President Joe Biden’s refusal to arrest and deport millions of illegal border crossers.  The Biden administration has also hired and promoted thousands of government employees considering factors such as race, sex, and sexual orientation, which is also illegal.  Thus, a similar operation must take place to demote all of those in federal government who have been hired or promoted using “diversity, equity, and inclusion” {DEI) methodology over merit.

We know through experience that DEI is simply illegal affirmative action under a different name.  Put simply, it is about advancing the hiring and promotion of anyone other than straight white males.  Under the Biden administration it has permeated every federal government institution, especially and including, most dangerously, the military. Virtually all departments have a “chief diversity officer” or equivalent position charged with implementing these illegal employment practices. Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-lead of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), just revealed in an X post that the Department of Health and Human Services alone has over five hundred employees dedicated to DEI and “minority health.”  A recent Arizona State University study revealed that the military will spend over $100 million this year on DEI initiatives.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act clearly bans discrimination of any kind based on race, ethnicity, and sex, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity. There is no exception for so-called “reverse” discrimination, aka affirmative action. Courts have only permitted affirmative action where it is proven that the employer had previously discriminated against a particular group and that the only way to remedy the past discrimination is via targeted and limited affirmative action.  

This point was highlighted recently by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) commissioner Andrea Lucas.  She weighed in on a spat between Elon Musk, co-leader of the DOGE, and Mark Cuban taking place on X.  Musk called Cuban a racist for following DEI hiring and promotion practices.  Cuban responded by stating he had “never hired anyone based exclusively on race, gender, or religion,” but added, that “race and gender” can sometimes be factored in if it meant putting his business “in the best position to succeed.”  

Lucas scolded Cuban:  “The law’s crystal clear. There is no legitimate business reason that justifies discrimination based on race or sex….  If he’s using it as a factor, even if it’s not the only factor or the dispositive factor, if it’s any part of the decision, then it’s a motivating factor, and that’s illegal.”

The left will contend that DEI is simply about getting more applications from minority, or “underrepresented,” groups. But whether the discrimination takes place in recruiting or in hiring, it is still discrimination. And the truth is, DEI is all about targets, and the desire to increase employment among certain groups cannot help but impact the hiring decisions themselves, as Cuban himself explained.  

Ramaswamy and Musk have promised to clear out all DEI positions as part of their DOGE mandate.  This is essential to ensure that DEI is no longer a factor in hiring and promotions.  But they must do more than that. To ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness in government, we must ensure that all positions are held by the people most qualified for the job. This will likely be best accomplished via an audit of the various DEI offices.  Their files must be reviewed, emails read, and interviews conducted to find out where and when these DEI officials put their thumbs on the scale in favor of particular groups. All DEI hires and promotions made during the Biden administration must be corrected and the most qualified candidate put into place.  

Nowhere is this more important than in our military. Each of our armed services, the Army, Navy, and Air/Space Force have an Office of DEI and a Chief Diversity Officer or Senior Advisor for DEI, all established under Biden in 2020. A Navy recruiter recently told me about targets he was given for the recruitment of females. As a result, he explained, “If a male walked into our office, we essentially just threw an application at him. But if a female walked in, we would help her fill out the application and made follow up calls to ensure she finalized and submitted it.”  Discrimination against white males in promotions, he reported, is even worse.

Why is our military actively discriminating against male applicants in favor of female applicants? It is not only illegal, it makes no sense. Based upon DEI concepts, the answer is no doubt because of the left’s sick obsession with equity.  They believe the military should have the same percentage of males and females.  As Kamala Harris infamously described it, “equity is about make sure everyone winds up in the same place.”  

During the campaign Trump announced he would establish a task force to eradicate DEI in the military.  He said he would appoint Matthew Lohmeier to lead it.  Lohmeier is a former Space Force officer who was fired after speaking out against wokeness in the military. He is now Executive Vice President of STARRS, a veterans group founded by retired Lt. General Rod Bishop to “stand against CRT/Woke ideology in the military and service academies.”  

The DEI industrial complex is set to come to an unceremonious and crashing end on January 20, 2025, thanks to President Trump and all those who voted for him. The greatest demotion operation in American history will commence.