Biden Issues Second Executive Order to “Further” Advance Governmentwide Racial Equity

Although the U.S. has already implemented a governmentwide plan to advance racial equity and support underserved communities under a 2021 Biden executive order, the president has issued a second directive to strong arm federal agencies into launching more initiatives that will further tax Americans. Under the recently issued mandate government agencies have 30 days to establish an “Agency Equity Team” and conduct proactive engagement with members of underserved communities through culturally and linguistically appropriate listening sessions. Biden is also creating a White House Steering Committee on Equity composed of senior officials who will coordinate the government’s sweeping efforts to promote his leftist agenda.

“By advancing equity, the Federal Government can support and empower all Americans, including the many communities in America that have been underserved, discriminated against, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality,” Biden writes in the new document, adding that “equitability” will rebuild trust in government. “This order builds upon my previous equity-related Executive Orders by extending and strengthening equity-advancing requirements for agencies, and it positions agencies to deliver better outcomes for the American people,” according to the president. As examples the commander-in-chief offers building a strong, fair, and inclusive workforce and economy, investing in communities where federal policies have historically impeded equal opportunity, mitigating economic displacement, rooting out discrimination in the housing market, advancing equity in health, environmental justice and ending “unjust disparities” in the nation’s criminal justice system.

Additionally, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will update directives to “support equitable decision-making, promote equitable deployment of financial and technical assistance, and assist agencies in advancing equity, as appropriate and wherever possible,” the new executive order says. This is important because OMB plays a pivotal role in government by developing and executing the federal budget, overseeing federal agencies and executive branch operations, and coordinating all significant federal regulations. The new order also includes a blueprint to make equity part of the official federal budget process and specifically prevent discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. “My Administration has embedded a focus on equity into the fabric of Federal policymaking and service delivery,” Biden writes, bragging that his presidency is the most diverse in our nation’s history.

This month’s executive order is part of a robust movement by the administration to incorporate racial equity across all federal agencies. The president launched the plan on his first day in office with the lengthy executive order to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities through the government. The 2021 document claims that “entrenched disparities” in laws, public policies, and private institutions have denied equal opportunity to individuals and communities and that the health and climate crises have exposed inequities while a “historic movement for justice has highlighted the unbearable human costs of systemic racism.” Therefore, the original order states, the federal government should pursue a “comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.” It further says that “by advancing equity across the Federal Government, we can create opportunities for the improvement of communities that have been historically underserved, which benefits everyone.”

Many key federal agencies have taken major steps to implement racial equity plans as per Biden’s first mandate. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has formulated a strategy to “advance equity for marginalized and underserved communities” that, among other things, directs federal prosecutors to ignore maximum sentencing under the law to “avoid unwarranted disparities.” The Department of Labor has dedicated $260 million to promote “equitable access” to government unemployment benefits by addressing disparities in the administration and delivery of money by race ethnicity and language proficiency. The Treasury Department named its first ever racial equity chief, a veteran La Raza official who spent a decade at the nation’s most influential open borders group. The Department of Defense (DOD) is using outrageous anti-bias materials that indoctrinate troops with anti-American and racially inflammatory training on diversity topics. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created an equity commission to address longstanding inequities in agriculture. The nation’s medical research agency has a special minority health and health disparities division that issued a study declaring COVID-19 exacerbated preexisting resentment against racial/ethnic minorities and marginalized communities.