Wednesday, the GOP-controlled House continued dismantling years of Democratic control by moving against a “wokeness” office created by former California Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In particular, Republicans eliminated funding for the “House Office of Diversity and Inclusion” from the 2024 Budget Appropriations bill presently being negotiated with the Senate and the White House, both of which are controlled by Democrats.

According to a description of the office: “The House of Representatives is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce. In one of the first acts of the 116th Congress, the House established the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. ODI’s mission is to foster diversity among House employing offices so that the House workforce reflects the diversity of America.”

After gaining control of the chamber in January 2019, Democrats established the office. Pelosi stated at the time, “The Office of Diversity and Inclusion, an initiative included in the House Rules package passed at the beginning of the 116th, will develop a diversity plan for the House of Representatives, including policies to assist House offices in enhancing recruitment, retention, and development of a diverse workforce.”

She added: “The Office will also act as a resource for House employing offices and increase awareness of diversity issues among Congressional staff. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion is an independent and nonpartisan office.”

However, the Republican legislation in the House “supports the planned reorganization of the Chief Administrative Office, including the restructuring of functions within the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, thereby saving taxpayers millions of dollars.”

“DEI offices have no place in Congress or the rest of the federal government,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) said in a statement, according to Breitbart News. “I’m glad that Republicans on the Legislative Branch Subcommittee agreed with our letter and defunded House Office of Diversity and Inclusion. It is a good start, and the Anti-Woke Caucus is calling on all Republicans appropriators to follow their lead and defund DEI programs in every federal agency.”

“Congress should not be funding racist and divisive programs that further split our nation only to advance woke, left-wing propaganda,” Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) added in his own statement, the outlet reported.

According to Banks, taxpayers have spent more than $3 million to sustain the office.

“Wokeness divides Americans by race, gender, and sexual orientation and deems so-called ‘oppressors’ responsible for all current inequality and suffering,” Banks wrote in a letter to a congressional subcommittee in March, according to Breitbart.

“It is the belief that America’s prosperity and success are built on past misdeeds. It seeks to replace the legal equality guaranteed by our Constitution with government-mandated equity, or equal outcome,” he added.

The House Republicans do not have a large majority in the chamber, but that has not prevented them, under the leadership of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, from delivering on the “Commitment to America” agenda.

Just the News reported on Sunday that the party has been able to enact a number of bills in the roughly four months that it has held a bare majority in the chamber.

McCarthy announced at an event in Pennsylvania where he unveiled the agenda that a Republican-led House would vote to eliminate federal funding for up to 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents as a response to the inclusion of such funding in the Democrats’ $780 billion Inflation Reduction Act.

Shortly before the Republicans seized control of the lower chamber, the Democrats’ bill, which had been approved without Republican support through budget reconciliation, was passed. After the start of the new congressional session in January, the new Republican majority enacted a bill to repeal the additional IRS funding.

More on this story via Conservative Brief:

Presented in September 2022, the ‘commitment’ called for advancing several conservative legislative priorities and, to date, House Republicans have managed to pass most of them, as promised, the report said. CONTINUE READING…