Politicization of the Military Shows Democrats and Republicans Recruiting Crisis Through Different Ideological Lenses
Polarizing debate over politicization of the military shows Democrats and Republicans recruiting crisis through different ideological lenses WHO IS POLITICIZING THE MILITARY? Two things Democrats and Republicans on the congressional Armed Services committees seem to agree on is that the military is being politicized, and that is having an effect on recruiting. But beyond that, each side sees the problem through a different ideological lens.
“Under the Biden Administration, the Pentagon has diverted its focus from lethality and have instead pushed initiatives that have politicized our warfighting ranks and harmed our military readiness,” said Mike Waltz (R-FL), chairman of the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee, as he rolled out a bill he’s proposed that would scrutinize the the Pentagon’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, ban critical race theory instruction, and bar the use of “race-conscious selections,” assignments, accessions, or promotions, among other.
“Our military faces the worst recruiting crisis since the Vietnam War because young Americans don’t want to join what was once a trusted institution that has become overly politicized and hyper-focused on DEI initiatives,” Waltz said in a press release announcing what’s he’s dubbed the WARRIOR Act, which, because every bill needs an appropriate acronym, stands for Working to Address Recruiting and Retention to Improve Our Readiness. “The reforms proposed in this legislation will restore a merit-based culture to our ranks, audit unnecessary and political DEI programs, and require cost-benefit analysis reports for green-energy focused proposals.”
TURNING WOMEN OFF: Meanwhile, in testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, senior Pentagon leaders and their allies on the committee pointed a finger at Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) refusal to allow routine military promotions to go forward because of his objections to the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy as having an immediate deleterious effect on morale, readiness, and likely recruiting and retention.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said to recruit and retain women, who make up 18% of the force, it is critical they know they will have access to reproductive care, including abortions or other medical procedures that may be necessary in the case of pregnancy problems.
“We have about 80,000 of our women that are stationed in those areas where they don’t have ready access to reproductive healthcare, and they don’t get a chance to pick where they live and where they’re stationed. And so, you know, what this policy does is ensure that access exists,” Austin said.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said the hold on 200 senior promotions is actually disrupting the lives of thousands of people who are not political appointees, but political career officers.
“There’s about 650 that are on various lists throughout the services that are up for nomination confirmation, and they’re all going to go replace someone and they’re going to be replaced. It’s really 650 times three, so you’re looking at 1,800 maybe, almost 2,000 officers,” Milley said. “Most of them are married. They probably have some kids, so you’re probably looking at three to 4,000 lives that are directly impacted in my view.”
“I’m going to stay out of the whole issue of why it’s being held, but I think holding up commissioned officers’ confirmations on anything other than their own personal talent and skills politicizes the military,” he testified. “If the intent is to not politicize the military, I think it has the opposite effect. It drags the uniform military right in the middle of a political argument.”
“These people have earned the right to be promoted and their families deserve what comes with that as well. And so, we certainly don’t want to begin losing people because we can’t promote them,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). “It would be tragic if that kind of talent began to vote with their feet and, because of the unpredictability, leave our service and go do something else.”
THE LEGAL QUESTION: Tuberville argues the Pentagon policy, which grants women leave and reimburses travel expenses to obtain abortions, is illegal, a violation of the Hyde Amendment.
“I am asking for the Pentagon to drop a policy that is illegal. I’m asking Secretary Austin to do his job and follow the law,” Tuberville said in his remarks on the Senate floor. “The burden is not on me to pass legislation to stop this illegal policy …The burden is on the administration to stop breaking the law.”
Austin testified yesterday that the policy “is firmly rooted in law,” citing a Justice Department opinion that the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds to “perform” an abortion, does not extend to prohibiting paying for travel to obtain abortions.
“That Congress chose not to include such capacious language in [a] 1996 amendment confirms that it did not intend for the prohibition to sweep so widely,” the Justice Department said.
FEUD BETWEEN TUBERVILLE AND DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OVER ABORTION POLICY CONTINUES
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Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Conrad Hoyt. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.
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HAPPENING TODAY: President Joe Biden meets with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at 2 p.m. “The two leaders will review our efforts as NATO allies and close partners to strengthen our bilateral defense relationship, transatlantic security, and economic prosperity,” the White House said in a statement. “They will discuss our unwavering support for Ukraine and our efforts to impose costs on the Kremlin as Russia continues its brutal war of aggression.”
UK STORM SHADOWS TO UKRAINE: The British government announced yesterday it would be the first country to send longer-range missiles to Ukraine to give its forces the ability to strike deeper behind Russian lines.
In remarks before the House of Commons, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the United Kingdom would be sending an undisclosed number of Storm Shadow cruise missiles with a range of 155 miles.
“Storm Shadow is a long-range conventional precision strike capability. It complements the long-range systems already gifted, including HIMARS and Harpoon missiles, as well as Ukraine’s own Neptune cruise missiles and longer-range munitions already gifted,” Wallace said.
“The donation of these weapon systems gives Ukraine the best chance to defend themselves against Russia’s continued brutality … Ukraine has a right to be able to defend itself against this. Their use of Storm Shadow will allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian sovereign territory.”
THREE BENEFITS THE UK’S STORM SHADOW MISSILES BRING TO UKRAINE
PRIGOZHIN FREAKED OUT: Ukrainian forces are enjoying some successes in the Bakhmut area, breaking through Russian lines in what the Institute for the Study of War called “localized counterattacks.”
The gains, while small, have nevertheless seemed to have panicked Wagner Group warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, who posted an audio message yesterday in which he said, “The counteroffensive is in full swing.”
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are entering the flanks of Artemivsk (the Russian name for Bakhmut) successfully. Further on, they will enter the territory of Bryansk and Belgorod regions,” Prigozhin said.
“The Russian MoD acknowledged the Ukrainian counterattacks uncharacteristically quickly, claiming that Russian forces repelled eight ground attacks,” the ISW said in its daily update. “Prigozhin’s and the MoD’s responses are reflective of increased panic in the Russian information space over speculations about planned Ukrainian counteroffensives and indicate increased concern among Wagner and Russian MoD leadership as well as reflecting Kremlin guidance to avoid downplaying Ukrainian successes.”
ZELENSKY SAYS UKRAINE ‘NEEDS A BIT MORE TIME’ BEFORE COUNTEROFFENSIVE
TUBERVILLE’S OTHER CONTROVERSY: ‘I CALL THEM AMERICANS’: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is taking fire for comments he made on an Alabama radio station, where he suggested the Pentagon is overly focused on rooting out extremism in the military and where he took issue with the description of Trump supporters as “white nationalists.”
The exchange came in a May 4 interview on WBHM, an NPR affiliate.
WBHM’s Richard Banks asked Tuberville, “You mentioned the Biden administration trying to prevent white nationalists from being in the military. Do you believe they should allow white nationalists in the military?”
Tuberville replied, “Well, they call them that. I call them Americans. What happened after January the sixth — and I was here on January the sixth — we were attacked on the Senate floor. Saying all these people that came into the Capitol were extremists, they were against the country. There was a lot of people. There were probably a hundred of them that came in, broke windows and broke doors that should have been locked up. That’s not how we do it in America. But there were hundreds of thousands that didn’t come in, outside, that were true Americans that believe in this country.”
“Senator Tuberville’s quote that is cited shows that he was being skeptical of the notion that there are white nationalists in the military, not that he believes they should be in the military. He believes the men and women in uniform are patriots,” said a spokesman for Tuberville.
Tuberville himself offered this explanation to reporters on Capitol Hill: “Democrats portray all Trump people as white nationalists, that’s what I was saying … there’s a lot of good people that are Trump supporters that for some reason my Democratic colleagues want to portray as white nationalists. That’s not true.”
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Calendar FRIDAY | MAY 12
12 p.m. — Washington Institute for Near East Policy virtual discussion: “Turkey’s Historic May 14 Elections: What to Expect,” with Seren Selvin Korkmaz, executive director of IstanPol; Emre Peker, director for Europe at the Eurasia Group; Ragip Soylu, Turkey bureau chief at Middle East Eye; and Soner Cagaptay, director of the WINEP Turkish Research Program https://washingtoninstitute-org.zoom.us/webinar/register
12 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Cato Institute discussion: on “Turkey’s Centennial Election: What Is at Stake?” with Gonul Tol, director of the Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies; Ian Vasquez, vice president for international studies at Cato; and Mustafa Akyol, senior fellow at the Cato Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity https://www.cato.org/events/turkeys-centennial-election-what-stake
12:30 p.m. 1957 E St. NW — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs discussion: on “Cross-Strait Relations and U.S. Strategy at a Crossroad?” with Joel Wuthnow, senior research fellow at National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs; Rosalie Chen, assistant professor at Dominican University of California; and John Dotson, deputy director of the Global Taiwan Institute https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/taiwan_roundtable
TUESDAY | MAY 16
10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee “Member Day” hearing, with testimony from members of Congress on their national defense priorities for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings/full-committee
WEDNESDAY | MAY 17
1:30 p.m. — Cipher Brief virtual conversation: “Thinking Like An Analyst In An Increasingly Complex World,” with Linda Weissgold, director of analysis, CIA https://www.thecipherbrief.com/expert-national-security-briefing-series
2 p.m. HVC-210 Capitol — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: “The State of American Influence in 2023: Great Power Competition and Persistent Crises in an Era of Budget Constraints,” with testimony from Samantha Power, administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development https://www.youtube.com/watch
7 p.m. 1310 Longworth — House (Select) Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Committee hearing: “Leveling the Playing Field: How to Counter the Chinese Communist Party’s Economic Aggression,” with testimony from Robert Lighthizer, former U.S. trade representative; Roger Robinson, chairman of the Prague Security Studies Institute and former chairman of congressional U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission; and Eric Schmidt, chairman of the Special Competitive Studies Project https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/committee
THURSDAY | MAY 18
9 a.m. HVC-210, U.S. Capitol — House Foreign Affairs Indo-Pacific Subcommittee hearing: “Standing United Against the People’s Republic of China’s Economic Aggression and Predatory Practices,” with testimony from David Feith, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for New American Security; Alon Raphael, CEO of FemtoMetrix; Matthew Reynolds, fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’s Economics Program; and Derek Scissors, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/standing-united
TUESDAY | MAY 23
POSTPONED: 10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee full committee markup of H.R. 2670, the “National Defense Authorization Act for FY2024” http://www.armedservices.house.gov
WEDNESDAY | MAY 24
12 p.m. — Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress in-person book event: Russia’s War & The Russian People’s Understanding of the War In Ukraine, with author Jade McGlynn, research fellow, War Studies Department, King’s College, London. RSVP: [email protected]
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I think holding up commissioned officers confirmations on anything other than their own personal talent and skills politicizes the military. And if the intent is to not politicize the military, I think it has the opposite effect. It drags the uniform military right in the middle of a political argument.”
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, testifying before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) blockage of 200 military promotions in protest of the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy.
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