FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans is demanding the White House provide a full accounting of U.S. taxpayer dollars going toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., wrote to President Biden’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young on Friday morning, arguing it is important for the House to have those calculations on hand as lawmakers start crafting federal spending bills to fund the government in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

“As Congress begins work on fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills, it is important that we know whether the administration is spending the American people’s hard-earned taxpayer dollars on divisive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs,” Burlison wrote.

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The letter was signed by nine other House Republicans.

Among the details they are seeking are the names and funding allocations for any government DEI programs in fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024, as well as what the administration is seeking for those efforts in 2025.

They are also looking for the total number of full- and part-time positions within the federal government that have to do with DEI, and any job listings advertising open roles.

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The Republicans are demanding a full accounting of how President Biden wants to spend federal dollars on DEI. (AP/Evan Vucci)

The letter similarly requested “the names of all potential programs in the planning or development stages that would address diversity, equity, inclusion, the prioritization of non-merit-based hiring or management, and/or similar concepts at each executive branch department and agency, if implemented.”

Burlison accused the Biden administration of trying to “embed DEI” into multiple facets of the federal government.

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“The Biden Administration has made clear that one of its main priorities is to embed DEI ideology into every facet of American society and the federal government. DEI programs are an affront to everything we believe in as Americans,” Burlison told Fox News Digital.

“Instead of uniting us, they divide us and pit American against American. We need to know exactly how much of the American people’s hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being wasted on DEI programs so that we can defund them along with other wasteful and divisive spending.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday killed a highly watched bill that would have required legislators to study and review a controversial new electric charge recently approved by the Newsom administration.

The committee members didn’t discuss their concerns about the bill known as AB 1999 or why they decided to stop the bill from proceeding.

In a roll call, two Democratic committee members — Timothy Grayson of Concord and Gail Pellerin of Santa Cruz — voted for the bill. The rest of the 15-member committee withheld their votes.

Some legislators said this week that they had received more calls from constituents about the new $24.15 a month electric charge and AB 1999 than any other subject.

The state Public Utilities Commission, which is led by Newsom appointees, approved the charge last week. In return for paying the new fee, consumers will get a lower rate for each kilowatt hour of power they use.

The Newsom administration says the new billing structure is needed to encourage more people to buy electric cars and replace gas appliances in their homes, which would reduce the use of planet-warming fossil fuels.

With California’s electric rates already second highest in the nation, the new fee has angered people across the state.

A coalition of more than 250 consumer and other groups has been protesting against the new monthly charge, saying that millions of Californians who live in apartments or small homes that use little electricity will see their bills increase to subsidize those using far more power.

They point to a study that found that 3.9 million households will pay $65 to $225 more a year under the new billing structure.

People who have solar panels on their homes will also be subject to the monthly charge.

The new fee affects customers of investor-owned power companies, including Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. It does not apply to customers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power or other municipal utilities.

The utilities commission says the electric companies will not receive additional revenues under the change. The amount the companies collect from the monthly charge, the commission said, will be equal to what they lose from charging a lower rate for each kilowatt hour.

But critics point out that Newsom’s 2022 bill to begin the process of imposing the new monthly charge eliminated a $10 cap on such fees that had been in place since 2013. That 2022 bill was passed in a matter of days with almost no debate.

In January, Jacqui Irwin, a Thousand Oaks Democrat, introduced AB 1999 to undo much of Newsom’s 2022 bill.

The bill faced a rocky path. Last month, Assembly leaders stopped the legislation before it had even received a hearing.

Irwin then amended the bill in an attempt to revive it. The bill passed its first committee hearing on Wednesday.

The amended bill would have required a study in 2028 of customers’ bills to determine who was paying more or less under the new rate structure. The bill said the monthly fee could be repealed if the legislature found it was not working as the utilities commission intended.

Irwin’s bill would have also kept the utilities from raising the fixed charge by more than inflation.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene had a heated exchange Thursday evening during what was supposed to be a contempt hearing for Attorney General Merrick Garland. 

The House Oversight Committee had originally been convened to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena to hand over an audio recording of President Biden’s interview with a special counsel. 

The hearing quickly spiraled out of control, with lawmakers bickering with one another. Less than an hour after the hearing was underway, Greene took shots at her Democratic colleague, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas. 

“Do you know what we’re here for?” Crockett asked Greene, who shot back: “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading.”

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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer pleaded for order amid audible groans in the chamber. 

Ocasio-Cortez weighed in saying: “I do have a point of order, and I would like to move to take down Ms. Green’s words. That is absolutely unacceptable. How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person… move her words down.” 

“Are your feelings hurt?” Greene asked. 

“Oh girl, baby girl!” Ocasio-Cortez shot back. “Don’t even play!” 

Ocasio-Cortez pushed to have Greene’s words “taken down,” which is a procedure to give a speaker the chance to withdraw their words or amend them if they are deemed out of order. 

Comer suspended the hearing while lawmakers weighed striking Greene’s words. Ocasio-Cortez could be heard during discussion: “No way is that being allowed” and “not today.” 

“We’re not going to do a smarmy apology. She has to actually apologize. And that needs to be up to Ms. Crockett as well,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It needs to be sincere.”  

Greene later agreed to strike her words but refused to apologize and insulted Ocasio-Cortez’s intelligence, prompting the Democratic Congresswoman to move to strike those words as well. 

Later, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who pushed for the court clerk to report the words, asked Greene again if she would apologize, to which she responded: “You will never get an apology out of me.” 

Crockett later reacted to the brouhaha on X.

“So MTG wanted to talk about my appearance in COMMITTEE?!” Crockett wrote on X. “This is what happens when mentally deficient people who can’t read and follow rules or just don’t give a damn… somehow end up in CONGRESS!”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.