Posted on January 23, 2023

Woke Agenda Survives: These House Republicans Are Sticking With ‘Diversity and Inclusion’

Joseph Simonson, Washington Free Beacon, January 20, 2023

Democrats may have lost control of the House of Representatives, but it appears Republicans are embracing their legacy of so-called diversity and inclusion.

Republican congressman Patrick McHenry (N.C.), now the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced earlier this month that there would be six subcommittees—and all of them will count advancing “diversity and inclusion” as one of their top priorities, according to the committee’s announcement.

The Subcommittee on Capital Markets, led by Republican Ann Wagner of Missouri, for example, will identify “best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the capital markets industry.” And the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, led by Republican Bill Huizenga of Michigan, is tasked with making sure there is “agency and programmatic commitment to diversity and inclusion policies.” No other specific oversight focuses were listed.

Diversity and inclusion, two members of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion triumvirate now commonly referred to as DEI, have become an obsession for Democrats and left-wing activists in recent years. Republicans won a narrow majority in the midterm elections at least in part due to promises that they would end the Democrats’ DEI craze. {snip}

{snip}

Although one of McHenry’s first acts as chairman was to dissolve the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion established by his predecessor Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), the task set out by that subcommittee now appears to have bled into the entire committee’s work. {snip}

McHenry also established a new committee, the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion. Under the leadership of Arkansas Republican French Hill, the subcommittee is tasked with “identifying best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the digital asset ecosystem.”

Rep. Warren Davidson (R., Ohio), who chairs the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, will work on “identifying best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the housing industry.” Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer’s (R., Mo.) Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions will “continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion within the national security and international finance industry,” and Rep. Andy Barr’s (R., Ky.) Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy will identify “best practices and policies that continue to strengthen the financial industry’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.”

{snip}