Exclusive–Office of Countering Extremism and Red Flag Provisions Scrapped from Defense Bill

Two provisions staunchly opposed by a group of House Republicans have been scrapped from the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act during negotiations on the bill between the House and Senate, Breitbart News has exclusively learned.

Negotiators scrapped a provision that would have established “Office of Countering Extremism” within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, a source familiar with the negotiations told Breitbart News on Monday afternoon.

The office would have furthered the Biden Pentagon’s goal to “root out” extremists from the military that conservatives feared was aimed at targeting conservative members of the military.

The other provision would have allowed military courts to issue protective orders that could be used to confiscate firearms from active duty service members without due process.

The bill also contains a “Red Flag” provision that would allow military courts to issue protective orders that could be used to confiscate firearms from active duty service members without due process.

The scrapping of the provisions came as House and Senate negotiators are conferencing their versions of the NDAA together for final passage by the end of the year.

Just last week, a group of Freedom Caucus members voiced their opposition to the bill, citing those as well as other provisions. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) also voiced opposition to the bill.

***Update***

According to Politico, a third provision of the proposed NDAA has been removed: women will not be required to register for the draft, giving conservatives yet another win. Politico writes, “Compromise defense policy legislation …  will not require women to register for a military draft, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations, a stunning turnaround after the proposal gained bipartisan support in both the House and Senate this year.”

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