{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2024/10/issues/fighting-wokeness/blackburn-to-blinken-the-state-department-s-divisive-dei-agenda-undermines-america-s-interests-abroad", "Blackburn to Blinken: The State Department\u2019s Divisive DEI Agenda Undermines America\u2019s Interests Abroad", "2024-10-17", "2024", "2024-10", "Republican", "Senate", "TN", "Marsha Blackburn", "B001243", "www.blackburn.senate.gov", "blackburn", "https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0", "scraper", "NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2013 U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent a letter demanding transparency from U.S. Department of State Secretary Antony Blinken on the Department\u2019s use of taxpayer dollars to pay the salaries of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) employees instead of promoting U.S. security overseas.\n\nLast month, reporting revealed top DEI officials at the Biden-Harris State Department make nearly $200,000 each year \u2013 nearly double the pay of average State Department employees.\n\nThe State Department Goes to Extreme Lengths to Prioritize Diversity Over Competence\n\n\u201cI write with concern regarding the State Department\u2019s use of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer funds to pay the salaries of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) employees. The State Department\u2019s apparent willingness to go to extreme lengths to prioritize diversity over competence in formulating a workforce for the agency, whose stated mission, in part, is to \u2018protect and promote U.S. security,\u2019 is demonstrated by the hefty salaries of top DEI officials. According to financial disclosures, the position of Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer received an annual salary of $194,510, and the State Department\u2019s Special Representative for Racial Justice and Equity receives $191,000 per year. Conversely, the base salary of the average State Department employee is just $97,000.\u201d\n\nAs Iran, China, and Russia Wage War on Democracy, the State Department\u2019s DEI Agenda Is Offensive and Irresponsible\n\n\u201cAs you know, the current geopolitical landscape is dangerously volatile, and the United States is entangled in multiple diplomatic conflicts worldwide. Israel, one of our closest allies, is fighting an existential war against Iran\u2019s proxy terrorist groups on several fronts, Communist China continues to threaten Taiwan\u2019s sovereignty and bully nations in the Indo-Pacific into subservience, and Russia\u2019s brutal war against Ukraine has now resulted in at least one million casualties on both sides. During this capricious period, it imprudent and offensive for your agency to allocate hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to support a DEI agenda that does not support, but in fact undermines, America\u2019s interests abroad. The American people deserve transparency over the use of their tax dollars to advance a divisive ideological agenda, particularly when it comes at the expense of protecting and promoting U.S. security overseas.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2024/10/issues/fighting-wokeness/blackburn-to-blinken-the-state-department-s-divisive-dei-agenda-undermines-america-s-interests-abroad"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.710968092083931, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}