FBI Quietly Shutters Diversity and Inclusion Office

The FBI said Thursday it closed its Office of Diversity and Inclusion last month as the federal government braces for crackdowns on woke programs in advance of President-elect Donald Trump taking office Monday.

"In recent weeks, the FBI took steps to close the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, effective by December 2024," an FBI spokesperson said Thursday in an emailed statement to The Hill.

The FBI said on its website the office was created in 2012 "to provide guidance and implement programs that promote a diverse and inclusive workplace that allows all employees to succeed and advance."

Trump and other Republican lawmakers campaigned last year on removing such programs from the federal government — especially in the Department of Justice, Pentagon, and Education Department — and returning to a focus on merit-based hiring and advancement.

"President Trump has been very clear about ending the woke DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] garbage infecting this country, and the American people voted overwhelmingly to do just that," Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told USA Today shortly after Trump's victory in November.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., claimed Jan. 3 that some federal agencies "have gotten so wrapped up in the DEI movement" that they have lost track of security measures, leading to events like the New Year's Day terrorist attack in New Orleans.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sent a letter Jan. 7 to outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray, condemning "radical" DEI initiatives that she argued had "endangered" Americans, citing the attack in New Orleans as an example.

"I am deeply concerned that — under your leadership — the Bureau has prioritized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives over its core mission of protecting the American people," Blackburn wrote.

"A recent report, drafted by a group of retired FBI agents for the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, indicated that 'the law enforcement and intelligence capabilities of the FBI are degrading because the FBI is no longer hiring "the best and the brightest" candidates.' The report also notes that 'the FBI is selecting [lower quality] candidates to become FBI Special Agents because they satisfy the FBI's priority to meet Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) mandates.'"

Pam Bondi, Trump's nominee for attorney general, was asked during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday whether discrimination based on race and sex is legal if it is couched in diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

"No one should be discriminated against," she said.

The private sector also is taking notice. Some the U.S.' largest businesses, including Walmart, Meta, Amazon, Ford, and McDonald's, have scaled back diversity initiatives years after pushing for more inclusive policies in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

• Meta Ends DEI Programs
• McDonald's Rolls Back Some of Its Diversity Practices