The Secret Service failures during the near assassination of former President Donald Trump have once again shone the spotlight on so-called DEI hiring, with former Director Kimberly Cheatle being accused of being a box-ticking diversity hire. This Washington Examiner series, Alphabet Soup, will take a closer look at whether the DEI chickens have come home to roost in the federal government, whether the private sector has finally had enough, and if the much-maligned term is here to stay or if it will simply morph into something else altogether. Part 3 will focus on the future of DEI.

After comprehensive buy-in across the institutional powers of corporations, government, and higher education, diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology has more recently left a negative impression on many people who increasingly see the movement as anti-meritocratic and even racist or sexist.