R48080 — Executive Order 14035 Implementation: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal Workforce

On June 25, 2021, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order (E.O.) 14035 on “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility [DEIA] in the Federal Workforce,” which mandates that the federal government enhance its ability to recruit, hire, develop, promote, and retain talented individuals and to act as a model employer for DEIA. This E.O. required the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to create a “Government-Wide DEIA Plan” and required executive branch agencies to create their own DEIA strategic plans and tasked them with several DEIA-related responsibilities. In addition, E.O. 14035 emphasized a number of topics in relation to DEIA, including paid internships, partnerships and recruitment, professional development and advancement, training and learning, equity for employees with disabilities, equity for LBGTQ+ employees, pay equity, and employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals. E.O. 14035 requires each agency to establish a chief diversity officer (CDO) or diversity and inclusion officer (DIO). OPM established the Chief Diversity Officers Executive Council (CDOEC) as a forum to engage agency CDOs and DIOs. The CDOEC is tasked with collaborating government-wide on strategic matters related to DEIA; collaborating with member agencies and public and private stakeholders on DEIA programs; engaging in benchmark, strategy, and metric setting for DEIA standards; and promoting the priorities and operating principles of E.O. 14035. OPM published the Government-Wide Strategic Plan to Advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce in November 2021. The Government-Wide DEIA Plan provides guidance to agencies for implementing E.O. 14035 through vision and mission statements, operating principles, DEIA priorities, advancement strategies, a maturity model, a workplace harassment framework, and next steps. E.O. 14035 also tasked OPM with a number of DEIA roles and responsibilities related to recruitment and hiring, training and development, and workforce equity. In addition to the work that E.O. 14035 requires of the OPM director, the document outlines specific roles and responsibilities for executive departments and agencies, including reporting and data collection requirements. The head of each agency is required to make DEIA initiatives a priority in strategic planning efforts. Each agency was also directed to develop an Agency DEIA Strategic Plan. This report discusses three specific Agency DEIA Strategic Plans as examples of agency implementation of E.O. 14035 and the Government-Wide DEIA Plan. These plans are from OPM, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Commerce. OPM published its first annual report to discuss the progress made on implementing the Government-Wide DEIA Plan and E.O. 14035. The inaugural 2022 report provides workforce demographic data related to race, gender, veteran status, disability status, military spouses, and the Pathways Program. OPM outlines seven “accomplishments” in the report and planned actions for 2023. As of the time this CSR report was published, OPM had not yet released an annual report for 2023. DEIA in the federal workforce is an issue of sustained interest to both the Biden Administration and Congress. DEIA-related topics may present opportunities for congressional oversight and legislative action. Potential areas of congressional interest may include OPM’s capacity to implement E.O. 14035, the Government-Wide DEIA Plan, and other initiatives; agency and federal employee engagement with DEIA issues; DEIA data timeliness; and the relevance of DEIA as a policy priority.

Curated by CRS — every bill listed in this report's relatedMaterials. Edge type cited_in_report, gold confidence.

• HR 4664 — Making appropriations for financial services and general government for the fiscal year ending Septe · 118th Cong
• S 3252 — Abolish Government DEI Act · 118th Cong