WASHINGTON – This year’s edition of the annual defense spending bill includes a series of “anti-establishment” measures pushed by House Republicans — including stripping funding for military drag shows and banning orders in critical race theory.
“I am fighting hard to make sure that DoD does not spend any funds on drag queen shows and children’s drag queen story time,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) told The Post of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act , which is published. late wednesday
“This far-left hyper-partisan distraction does nothing to improve readiness and capability,” he added.
The bill also calls for cuts to the Biden administration’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program in the military. The text specifically calls for eliminating the Pentagon’s DEI chief position and requires Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to “assess and verify the need for each position in the DEI bureaucracy.”
“[The bill] prohibit funding for any DoD advisory committee dealing with race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or social justice,” House Republicans said in a statement Thursday.
This year’s edition of the annual defense spending bill includes a series of “anti-growth” measures pushed by House Republicans. AP
Biden has made DEI one of his administration’s top priorities, requiring all federal agencies to produce an annual report that assesses and establishes diversity efforts in each of their departments.
The draft bill would also prohibit the Pentagon from contracting with NewsGuard Technologies, a company that claims to “fact-check” reporting and issue “danger risk” ratings to various media — but in reality has largely censored conservative outlets.
“[The bill] prohibits DoD from contracting with NewsGuard Technologies or similar advertising firms that blacklist conservative news sources,” the statement said.
Drag Queen Show in Laguna Beach, California. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Further, the final draft of the bill would eliminate all funding for the Pentagon’s ‘Countering Extremism Task Force,’ which the House GOP called “politically biased.”
The group aims to “address the threat posed by prohibited extremist activity” and address “discrimination, hatred, and harassment” in the service, according to the Department of Defense.
However, Republican leaders say the group – which was formed in the wake of the January 6, 2021 riots by supporters of former President Donald Trump at the Capitol – has unfairly targeted conservative forces.
The bill would also preempt a pending federal rule requiring the Pentagon to select only the greenest contractors for multimillion-dollar weapons awards — even as the defense industry races to keep up with growing production requirements.
“[It] prevent DoD from requiring defense contractors to document the impact of their weapons systems on greenhouse gas emissions and submit plans to reduce emissions,” according to a statement from House Republicans.
Students in Temecula, California walked off campus in protest of the district’s ban on critical race theory. MediaNews Group via Getty Images
It is unlikely that all of those provisions will make it through the negotiation process with Democrats in passing the NDAA. Previously, the left had criticized their Republican counterparts for including conservative priorities in the typically bipartisan annual process.
“Extreme MAGA Republicans have chosen to hijack the historically bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act to continue to attack reproductive freedom and force their right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people,” House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said in a July statement after an early version of the bill passed the House.
The Pentagon ordered the Nevada Air Force to cancel the Pride Month drag show. Gaetz.House.gov
However, Rogers told The Post that the GOP provision would benefit military readiness.
“The focus of our military,” he said, “must be maintaining the most capable and lethal force in the world.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
