In the wake of revelations of the FBI’s retaliatory tactics against a January 6 whistleblower, stunning security failures committed by the Secret Service during two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump, and ongoing allegations of personal misconduct, a congressman is calling out the Biden-Harris administration for allowing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices and excessively punitive punishments to cripple the central mission of critical federal law enforcement agencies.

During Thursday’s “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins,” Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) contended that hiring practices rooted in DEI principles inherently undermine critical job qualifications.

“It’s a philosophy that is rooted in the idea that not only are white people racist, but that they need to make sure that the playing field is … leveled,” he explained. “[D]uring a hearing that we had, I asked the simple question, ‘Does that mean that a person needs to be qualified?’ I believe in equal opportunity for African Americans, Hispanics, whoever the ‘class’ may be. But the question is, do they need to be qualified in the job that they would be performing? And the answer sadly came back, ‘No, that doesn’t matter.’ And that is the downfall not only of government, but of anybody that falls victim [in] private industry. … [T]his is where we are in 2024.”

Sessions went on to contend that character standards are being cast aside when considering critical positions within the Department of Justice.

“There’s no real character standard that is important anymore,” he insisted. “When my father was FBI director, he proudly said that we would put those that were Eagle Scouts and people who served in the military in a basket of their own, knowing that they have distinguished themselves and understanding, not just character, but love of country would be a part of it. And now [those traits have] nothing to do with it. … [T]hat is going to downgrade not only the citizenship angle, but also the kind of person who will be serving.”

In addition, Sessions noted that a pattern is emerging of whistleblowers within federal agencies being retaliated against through the use of overly severe tactics.

“It’s something that we have seen for quite some time where they will [not only] withhold someone’s security clearance but suspend them [and] not allow them to do any work,” he observed. “… It takes these agencies too long to perform not only their background information, but to develop any case against someone. And then all of a sudden, out of the clear blue, someone is let go. This is a problem. It’s something that we saw in the Secret Service a number of years ago. I engaged the Secret Service in 2016 and 2017 about an agent [who] was trying to move to another agency and they did not like that. So they used … his own security clearance against him. … This is the kind of punitive action that they take if you wish to leave their agency, or if you do anything that might not be within what they want, they become very hostile against you. … It’s punitive and wrong.”

“Now the question is, how do we turn that corner?” Sessions concluded. “How do we turn the corner on someone who legitimately provides information? And then how does that agency deal with them? This is the role of what would be human relations, HR people in agencies. And I think they need a new set of [standards].”