ALEX BUCKNAM
Asst. News Editor
Two prominent events have happened in Washington D.C. since Feb. 14: the Department of Education (DOE) sent out a letter telling schools that they need to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion programs; and the House of Representatives passed a budget resolution bill.
On Feb. 14, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights for the DOE, Craig Trainor, sent out a letter titled “Dear Colleague.” In summary, it states that schools, colleges and universities had to get rid of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs by Feb. 28.
The letter opens by stating, “These institutions’ embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia.” It continues by saying, “Colleges, universities and K-12 schools have routinely used race as a factor in admissions, financial aid, hiring, training, and other institutional programming.”
The letter then goes on to blame racial discrimination on diversity, equity and inclusion programs stating that the DOE will not tolerate racial discrimination pushed by DEI.
“The Department [of Education] will no longer tolerate the overt and covert racial discrimination … The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal.”
The letter concludes with the DOE’s intention to take measures to assess compliance to end racial discrimination, which is a requirement that schools have to meet to receive federal funding.
The department gives schools 14 days after the letter was sent out to achieve this, threatening, “Institutions that fail to comply may, consistent with applicable law, face investigation and loss of federal funding.”
This letter has caused multiple groups and unions, like the American Federation of Teachers, to file lawsuits against the DOE, arguing that the letter was an overreach of the department’s powers and misrepresents what DEI programs do.
As of Feb. 28, there are multiple lawsuits over this letter that are making their way through the courts.
As of Feb. 28, SUNY Fredonia has not gotten rid of any diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
DEI does not only include race, according to Dr. Gregory King, the assistant provost for faculty development at The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). DEI oversees things like “ramps and sidewalk curb cuts, family restrooms, breastfeeding/pumping stations, floating paid holidays, pay equity and transparency, parental leave (time & pay), not having to just accept workplace harassment, work accommodations for a variety of disabilities, flexible work arrangements and size-inclusive chairs and beds in medical facilities.” He further notes, “This is not a full list.”
The House of Representatives passed a budget resolution on Feb. 26 with a 217-215 vote, which is the exact number of votes the Grand Old Party (GOP) needed to pass the budget resolution. One Republican voted against the bill and one Democrat did not vote.
The GOP budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 14), includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, $1.5-2 trillion in spending cuts and a $4 trillion increase to the debt ceiling.
This was the first step to achieving President Donald Trump’s budget agenda, according to CBS.
A budget resolution is defined by the Congressional Budget Office as “a blueprint to guide congressional action on budget-related legislation over the course of the year. It does not provide funding for federal programs or change tax law; rather, it sets overall spending and revenue targets, sometimes for as many as 10 years.”
This means that the rumors of any Medicaid or food stamps being cut through this budget resolution are false. Cuts to these programs could come, however, when Republicans figure out how they are going to achieve the $1.5-2 trillion in spending cuts. As of Feb. 28, we do not officially know what is being cut.
This budget resolution still needs to pass the Senate and then needs to be signed by President Trump before it comes into effect.
After the budget resolution is signed, appropriate committees in the Senate and House will meet to create the 2024-2025 fiscal year (FY) spending bill, since this bill has yet to be passed and signed by the president.
Passing a budget resolution bill is also the first step to passing a reconciliation bill.
According to the House Committee on the Budget, a reconciliation bill is defined as, “a tool – a special process – that makes legislation easier to pass in the Senate.”
This will bump down how many votes are needed to pass a spending bill in the Senate to a simple majority — from 60 to 50 — according to the Economic Policy Institute. As of Feb. 28, the Senate contains 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and 2 Independents who caucus with the Democrats.
This means that if a reconciliation bill was not passed, the GOP would need seven Democrats to vote on their spending bill. But if a reconciliation bill was passed, the GOP would not need a single Democrat vote and could lose four Republican votes, since in a tie, the Vice President of the United States would cast his vote.
Now, this does not mean that Congress can just keep on passing a reconciliation bill to override the cases where 60 votes are needed in the Senate. According to the Economic Policy Institute, “A reconciliation bill can only focus on budget-related measures.”
The Leader will continue to monitor and provide updates on what is happening within the Trump administration and Congress in the upcoming months.
SOURCES:
https://www.ed.gov/media/document/dear-colleague-letter-sffa-v-harvard-109506.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.577437/gov.uscourts.mdd.577437.1.0.pdf
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hang-loi_diversity-inclusion-equity-activity-7292902336350326784-KjBt
https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hconres14/BILLS-119hconres14eh.pdf
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/budget-resolution-house-vote-mike-johnson-trump-agenda