Representative Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) has forcefully condemned recent Republican criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris, particularly those labeling her as a “DEI hire.” In a CNN interview on Tuesday, Frost equated such language to racial slurs, urging listeners to interpret “DEI” as a coded reference to more explicit racist terminology.
The controversy ignited when Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) referred to Harris as a “DEI hire” on social media, criticizing the Biden administration’s competency.
Frost responded by highlighting Harris’s extensive political experience, including her roles as California Attorney General, U.S. Senator, and Vice President.
“They want to call her [Harris] a DEI president, a DEI candidate. She has more experience than [former President] Trump and JD Vance, combined. Times a million, right?” He continued, saying, “She won at the state level. She was the attorney general. She was Vice President of the United States. She was a senator representing one of the largest states in the entire country. And so these are just racist dog whistles.”
The debate has now expanded beyond Harris to include the U.S. Secret Service. During a recent House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing, several Republican lawmakers questioned Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle about the agency’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, suggesting these might be compromising security.
Rep. Burchett told Cheatle, “Ma’am, you are a DEI horror story,” while other Republicans questioned if diversity initiatives were lowering standards. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) also asked if the agency was “not hiring men because of your desire to hit certain targets.”
Cheatle defended the agency’s standards, stating,
“Everyone who moves through the application process has to meet the same standards to become a special agent.”
She also emphasized that the recent security incident involving former President Trump “has nothing to do with DEI” but rather “a gap in either planning or communication.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) called the Republican attacks “disgraceful” and accused her colleagues of “trotting out sexist tropes” to undermine progress in racial justice and gender equity.
The Secret Service’s commitment to the 30×30 Initiative, which aims to increase women’s representation in law enforcement to 30% by 2030, has become a particular focus of criticism. According to their website, only 12% of sworn officers are women in the U.S.