- The 2023 appropriations bills are filled with budget lines dedicating millions to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs in the military.
- For example, the defense bill includes $131.7 million for the Pentagon to conduct a pilot program aimed at deepening research and development partnerships between the DOD and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions.
- The omnibus spending bill allocates $5 million for the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Act, a decades-old program aimed at increasing women’s employment in trade occupations, along with unspecified grant funding “to serve and promote the interests of women in research.”
- Another $5 million was allocated for underrepresented students, “particularly women of color,” to obtain degrees in science, technology, engineering, arts or mathematics and pursue national security-related careers.
