Pentagon Won’t Disclose Diversity Training Costs Due to ‘Lack of DEI Manning’
The Pentagon reportedly cannot disclose the cost of diversity training costs due to a “lack of [diversity, equity, and inclusion] DEI manning,” in the Department of Defense (DOD).
Congress, in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2024, required the Pentagon to not only cap the salaries of DEI personnel working for the DOD to $70,000 annually but to also crunch the numbers and disclose to taxpayers how much the department spent on military-wide diversity training. It also placed a “hiring freeze” on all new DEI positions and prohibited funding for any critical race theory (CRT) trainings or initiatives.
The NDAA sets defense policy for the following fiscal year, and last year, Congress cracked down on DEI initiatives taken on by the Pentagon. However, the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) found that the Pentagon has missed the report’s due date by nearly two months, which the DOD claims is due to the DEI budget cuts.
In correspondence obtained by the DCNF, a legislative liaison representing the DOD to Congress claimed that the report was delayed “due to lack of DEI manning.”
“We do not have an estimated completion date at this time,” the individual stated.
The Pentagon, which requested roughly $114.7 million for its DEI programs for the fiscal year 2024, has failed six consecutive financial audits, proving the DOD incapable of providing transparent and accurate accounting of its finances. The Pentagon has previously stated that diversity is a “strategic imperative” and, as revealed in two lawsuits filed by Judicial Watch, has given training documents to West Point Academy cadets claiming, “to understand racial inequity and slavery, it is first necessary to address whiteness.”
Training programs and initiatives such as this were particularly targeted by Congress when approving the NDAA 2024, however it remains to be seen if the Pentagon has complied with the prescribed parameters.
