Tester distances himself from Biden administration’s ‘unfair’ DEI mandates

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) urged the Biden administration to stop pushing diversity, equity, and inclusion practices on Montana universities as he battles to save his political career in a deep-red state.

On Tuesday, Tester called on President Joe Biden’s Department of Education to “immediately reverse” a decision that blocked federal funding to Montana universities because they failed to submit "sufficient" details about their hiring practices for "a diverse group of individuals,” per Fox News.

"The Biden administration’s decision to strip critical funding from local schools is just another example of one-size-fits-all policies from Washington bureaucrats who don’t understand Montana,” he said.

Tester first appealed the Education Department's decision near the beginning of September. He said that though the state had benefited from the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program grant since 1999, the Biden administration had pulled the funding over from Montana universities over new “subjective” diversity hiring requirements.

The Montana Democrat's latest statement on the matter reflects a centrist move amid his tough reelection battle against Republican challenger Tim Sheehy.

Tester’s disdain for the DEI requirement built into the Education Department’s grant process comes after Sheehy attacked him for allegedly promoting “DEI and ESG in our military” during the pair’s first debate in June.

“We focused on DEI and ESG in our military instead of making sure we are training warfighters. I know a little bit about that, and I'm proud to be married to a Marine. So, I'm fully supportive of women in uniform. But guess what? They [should] pass the same standards as the rest of us,” Sheehy said .

“Jon Tester’s chairmanship of the defense appropriations [sub]committee and Joe Biden’s stewardship in the White House has led to the lowest military readiness in a generation,” the Republican added.

It’s not the first time Sheehy and his allies have accused Tester of promoting DEI initiatives.

During a rally for Sheehy over the summer, Republican state Rep. Courtenay Sprunger also lamented DEI efforts in the military when she opened the event for her colleague in June.

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Tester has lost ground to Sheehy in recent months. The latest polls show the Democrat trailing his GOP challenger by nearly 7 percentage points ahead of Election Day.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the Education Department for comment.