Judicial Watch: Secret Service Records Reveal DEI Is Prioritized for All Agency Employees in ‘Every Action, Every Day’

August 25, 2024 by Judicial Watch

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it received 311 pages of U.S. Secret Service (USSS) records that show the Secret Service has made it a top priority that “diversity and inclusion is not just ‘talked about’ – but demonstrated by all employees through ‘Every Action, Every Day.’” [Emphasis in original]

The records show the Secret Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), demands that 12 percent of its workforce be composed of “persons with disabilities,” and that it is the policy of the Secret Service to provide equal employment opportunity without regard to such non-merit factors as “disability (physical or mental).” 

Judicial Watch obtained the records in a FOIA lawsuit against DHS for records relating to an incident in April at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland in which a Secret Service agent assigned to protect Vice President Kamala Harris got into a scuffle with colleagues (Judicial Watch v. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:24-cv-01705)).

According to an April 24 report by the Washington Examiner, a Secret Service agent was removed from her duties after physically attacking the commanding agent in charge and other agents who tried to subdue her.

 A later report states: “The agents involved in restraining [Michelle] Herczeg were especially concerned because she still had her gun in the holster. They wrestled her to the ground, took the gun from her, cuffed her, and then removed her from the terminal.” The report also states that, following the incident at Joint Base Andrews, which is the home base for Air Force One and Air Force Two. “Secret Service agents and officers are privately questioning the hiring process and whether the agency had adequately screened Herczeg’s background.” 

The newly obtained records include an undated document titled “Secret Service Inclusion and Engagement Council Charter: Changing the Game of Diversity and Inclusion,” in which the Secret Service puts forth a strategy for the council and establishes an “SES-level Executive Champion for Inclusion and Engagement:

The IEC’s collective duty is to help the Secret Service build, foster, create, and inspire a workforce where diversity and inclusion is not just “talked about” — but demonstrated by all employees through “Every Action, Every Day.” [Emphasis in original] 

The document notes that the Secret Service’s Inclusion and Engagement Council “will not rely solely on the legal requirements underscoring the principles of EEO and the voluntary initiatives in Diversity programs; rather, the IEC will seek innovative solutions outside the agency’s mandated requirements to create a culture where differences are valued and appreciated, and employee engagement is encouraged.”

The “Inclusive Diversity Vision Statement” instructs: “To be the employer of choice and ‘gold standard’ for leveraging inclusive diversity by modeling the qualities of mutual respect, admiration, and appreciation for cultural differences and varying perspectives.”

A document dated fiscal year (FY) 2023 and titled “Affirmative Action Plan for the Recruitment, Hiring, Advancement, and Retention of Persons with Disabilities” states that the Secret Service should have a “numerical goal” to have “persons with disabilities” (PWDs) make up 12 percent of its workforce.

In a 2005 Secret Service “Human Resources and Training Manual,” the general provisions state that it is the policy of the Secret Service to provide equal employment opportunity without regard to such non-merit factors as “disability (physical or mental):”

It is the policy of the Secret Service to provide equal employment opportunity throughout the Service for all employees, former employees, and applicants for employment who are otherwise eligible and qualified, without regard to such non-merit factors as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability (physical or mental), parental status, protected genetic information, sexual orientation, age, or reprisal for objecting to discrimination or prior or current participation in the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint process. This policy applies to appointments, details, career development, training, reassignments, promotions, and assignments of work, and to any other actions or situations affecting employment status where the possibility exists for consideration of non-merit factors.

 The document also outlines a program within Secret Service called “Special Emphasis Programs” that:

[A]re designed to assist the organization in meeting its affirmative action responsibilities. SEPs are affirmative action programs established to increase the representation, retention, and advancement of their constituent groups in underrepresented occupations and grades. SEPs are also charged with promoting cultural awareness, identifying policies, procedures, and practices affecting their groups and advising management on actions, which may increase in participation of minorities, women and persons with disabilities in all Secret Service programs and activities. The Secret Service delivers the following six programs: 

Federal Women

Hispanic Employment

African American

Asian/Pacific Islander

Persons with Disabilities/Disabled Veterans

American Indian/Alaskan Native

A document titled “Diversity Management Program” dated February 2001 explains: “The Diversity Management Program has been established in the Secret Service as a means of achieving an organizational culture which value diversity and utilizes employees to their fullest potential regardless of age, gender, race or other factors.”

The document also establishes the “Duties, Functions and Responsibilities” of the Diversity Management Program, including the goals:

Promotes awareness of diversity within the workplace, enhances interpersonal relationships, and strives to create an organizational culture that is free from racism, sexism, and other biases.

Actively supports the recruitment, development, advancement, and retention of a diverse workforce.

An undated Secret Service Human Resources PowerPoint training slideshow, titled “SAITC-UDITC [Special Agent Introductory Training Course-Uniformed Division Introductory Training Course] Zero Tolerance Briefing” outlines “Special Emphasis Programs” as focusing “special attention on groups that are not represented or have less than expected participation rates in specific occupational categories or grade levels within the agency’s workforce,” including among others, “Federal Women’s Program,” “Hispanic Program,” and “LGBT Program.”

“These documents show that the Secret Service, for years, has seemed to place woke politics over their protection and law enforcement mission in, as their DEI policy states: ‘Every Action, Every Day,’” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Judicial Watch recently uncovered records from the district attorney’s office in Butler County, PA, detailing the extensive preparation of local police for the rally at which former President Trump was shot, including sniper teams, counter assault teams and a quick response force.

On August 9, in response to a separate open records request, Judicial Watch obtained bodycam footage of the July 13 assassination events from the Butler Township Police Department.

On August 12 Judicial Watch reported that the FBI withheld information on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information about its coordination with the U.S. Secret Service regarding the July 13 Butler, PA, rally.

On July 31, Judicial Watch reported that the United States Secret Service completely denied multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for documents about the assassination attempt on former President Trump.

Judicial Watch has more than 25 FOIA and open records currently pending on the shooting of Trump with the Biden administration and local and state officials and agencies in Pennsylvania.

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