A study was released on March 10, 2025 that was able to finally put a dollar amount on former Vice President Joe Biden's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion measures and that amount is $1.1 trillion. This includes 460 programs across 24 federal agencies. Some of these you've probably already heard about, but let's dig in, shall we?

• The Defense Department planned to “Integrate environmental/economic justice tools.”
• FEMA found the need to “Install equity as a foundation of emergency management.
• The Department of Labor “must embed equity in a sustainable manner that recognizes the multiple and overlapping identities held by workers.”
• In May 2024, President Biden told attendees at an NAACP event that his administration has invested $16 billion in HBCUs, that he’s forgiven $160 billion in student loan debt, and that the Department of Education has spent $50 million on teacher diversity.
• On September 20, 2024, ProPublica reported that DOE had awarded the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation “a $32 million grant for a novel solar energy project in Washington state.” However, “Months after announcing the grant, the same department is making it nearly impossible for the tribal nation to access the money.”

So, let's take a look at the history of DEI:

• March 6, 1961: Executive Order 10925 Establishing the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. While the term "affirmative action" existed before this, President John F. Kennedy's executive action used the terminology in the context of social justice and we've never looked back.

The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, or national origin. The contractor will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.

• September 28, 1965: Executive Order 11246 signed by President Lyndon Johnson added "sex" to the race, creed, color, or national origin descriptors.
• 1970: Xerox creates the first Employee Resource Group (ERG), the National Black Employee Caucus. This was supposed to create a safe space for black employees.
• 1978: Hewlett Packard created the first LGBT ERG
• June 26, 1978: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke Allan Bakke, a 35-year-old white man, sued UC after he was rejected twice from medical school. UC reserved 16 of 100 spots for minorities. Bakke's qualifications exceeded the qualifications of minority students that were admitted in the two years Bakke applied. The Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to establish any racial quota system. So, race could be considered as a factor when admitting to schools, but could not part of a quota system.
• 2003: Rooney Rule in the NFL focused on hiring minorities into head coaching positions. A 2021 change required all NFL teams interview at least two external minority candidates in person for head coach and GM positions. The Rooney Rule expanded in 2022 to include women as part of their minority candidate definition.
• 2005: The College Board added an essay section to the SAT. It was eliminated in 2021 after a 2019 study showed that the essay was useful to students of color and people whose primary language wasn't English. Regardless, high school grades are a better measure of predicting college success.
• June 29. 2023: Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College Harvard's and UNC's race-based admission systems fail to meet strict scrutiny. They could not demonstrate "compelling interests," "failed to avoid racial stereotypes," and couldn't give an endpoint for their race-based admissions.
• 2020: George Floyd dies; DEI goes absolutely nuts
• January 20, 2021: Joe Biden signs Executive Order 13985. The order is implemented across 460 programs and 24 federal agencies and costs the American taxpayer $1.1 trillion. But you already knew that.

And, at the end of the day, who benefitted most from DEI? White women. They're also the group most likely affirmative action.

A lack of diversity can be an indication of inequality. It could also just mean that certain groups of people aren't interested in those jobs. Trying to force it only breeds suspicion and resentment.

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Kate works in production at LwC. She is an author. When she isn’t writing...who are we kidding? She’s always writing. You can find her here on X.