Federal departments and agencies spent over $800,000 in contracts over a three-year period hiring guest speakers to talk to staff on the topics of equity, diversity, and inclusion, records show.
That amount represents the largest spending category out of the over $2 million total spent on speeches from Jan. 1, 2019, to Nov. 23, 2022, shows an analysis by The Epoch Times based on data from 44 departments and agencies. The next two highest-spending categories are for topics related to leadership, ethics, and communication, at about $468,000, and topics related to mental health and to health and wellness, at about $462,000.