Federal agencies unveiled large-scale plans Thursday as part of the Biden administration’s nationwide efforts to ensure that racial minorities and other unserved communities have equal access to state resources.
The plans have been drawn up for more than a year, triggered by an executive order to promote racial justice and equality that President Biden signed on his first day in office last year. More than 90 agencies are releasing participation plans, which are the product of internal evaluations by each agency, a senior administration official told reporters.
The official said the plans include a total of 300 strategies and commitments. Among them, the Ministry of Labor plans to launch a new initiative to help black workers overcome barriers to accessing unemployment benefits.
The Environmental Protection Agency will move from responding to civil rights complaints to launching proactive civil rights reviews. The Pentagon plans to work with historic black colleges and universities (HBCU) to diversify its artificial intelligence workforce.
The Department of Homeland Security also plans to focus on ensuring that transgender Americans are treated fairly during airport inspections.
The Department of Justice will improve language access to its programs so that non-English-speaking Americans can more easily report crimes and have access to the department’s resources.
“We are talking about a different approach to government that puts the service of all Americans at the center,” said a senior administration official.
Authorities stressed that implementation of the plans will take time.
“We really see this as a marathon as well as a sprint,” said a second senior administration official. “It will take a long and sustained effort in the interagency, in the wider justice community to fill these critical gaps.
White House Home Affairs Adviser Susan Rice and Director of Management and Budget Shalanda Young are hosting a virtual White House event with cabinet officials to discuss plans Thursday morning.
Biden, who is traveling to North Carolina and plans to speak at HBCU, shot a video message addressing the plans, which was played at the beginning of the virtual event on Thursday.
“Equity development is not a one-year project,” he said in the short video. “It’s a generational commitment. These plans are an important step forward, reflecting the work of the Biden-Harris administration to make the promise of America a reality for every American, and I mean every American.
The plans come as the administration faces pressure from defenders to cancel a student loan debt and take executive action to reform police to tackle racial justice.
Biden recently announced plans to extend the pause on federal student loan payments until the end of August, but the administration is silent on whether the president will try to cancel the debt to borrowers. Some doubt Biden has the legal authority to do so.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson has stepped up pressure on Biden to sign a long-awaited police warrant following the release of a video of a fatal police shooting at a stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Wednesday.
“While we fully understand that the executive order is not a substitute for meaningful legislation, we must do everything in our power to protect our community,” Johnson said in a statement Wednesday.
Administration officials insist the president intends to sign the executive order, which expired late last year, but say work is still underway.
“The president absolutely wants to do just that,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters during a briefing Wednesday. “It just takes a while to go through a trial, but his intention is absolutely to sign a police enforcement order.”
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Democrats in Congress also failed to pass electoral reform bills – a top priority for civil rights defenders – which Republicans unanimously opposed.
Biden has made justice a priority, including by building a diverse staff in the White House and throughout the administration. Earlier this year, he also nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson for the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court and celebrated her confirmation last week.
Updated at 10:34 p.m.
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