{"id":1952106,"date":"2023-06-20T16:27:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T20:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-amendments-would-cut-woke-progams-out-of-pentagons-proposed-budget\/"},"modified":"2023-06-20T16:28:34","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T20:28:34","slug":"gop-amendments-would-cut-woke-progams-out-of-pentagons-proposed-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-amendments-would-cut-woke-progams-out-of-pentagons-proposed-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP amendments aim to eliminate &#8220;woke&#8221; programs from Pentagon&#8217;s budget."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-amendments-would-cut-woke-progams-out-of-pentagons-proposed-budget%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1952106&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<h2>House Republicans Seek to Eliminate DEI Training Programs in the Military<\/h2>\n<p>House Republicans are expected to support three amendments calling for the Pentagon to audit and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training programs when the House Armed Services Committee convenes on June 21 to begin vetting the proposed $874.2 billion fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (FY24 NDAA).<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) revealed on Fox Business\u2019s \u2018Mornings With Maria\u2019 early on June 20 that he would sponsor the three amendments, confirming reports first posted by CQ\/Roll Call that a \u201cdefund DEI\u201d initiative would surface during the first public hearing on the annual defense budget, filed as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/house-bill\/2670\">House Bill 2670<\/a>, before the full 59-member House committee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere are the three amendments,\u201d he said, waving three pieces of paper for viewers to see. \u201cWe are very interested in getting \u2018wokeism\u2019 out of the military.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Amendments Proposed by Rep. Alford<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Prohibit the Department of Defense (DOD) from using FY24 NDAA allocations for the Pentagon\u2019s Countering Extremism Working Group<\/li>\n<li>Freeze salary and operational monies for a deputy inspector general \u201cfor diversity and inclusion and extremism in the military\u201d position authorized under the FY21 NDAA<\/li>\n<li>Mandate an audit assessment of staffing within the Pentagon\u2019s DEI office<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe got to eliminate these, what they call diversity, equity and inclusion programs [and] these investigations into what they call \u2018extremists in the military,\u2019\u201d Alford said. \u201cThese are patriots who love our Constitution, who love our institutions, love how voting is supposed to be. They want nothing more than to show patriotism in their country, and they\u2019re being rooted out, maybe because they don\u2019t get the vaccine. They get kicked out of the military. These are not reasons to be kicking them out for \u2018extremism.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5284177\" style=\"width: 312px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/05\/23\/id5284177-official-mark-alford-mo04.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n    Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) (United States House of Representatives)<br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<h2>Two Years of Mounting Angst<\/h2>\n<p>Conservatives have argued for years that DEI training, as it was being implemented in the military, was a misguided attempt to impose political correctness with little relevance in the ranks and was, in fact, hurting morale and exacerbating tensions, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-depth-pentagon-paying-the-price-for-going-woke\/\" title=\"Pentagon suffers consequences for embracing 'woke' ideology.\">potentially degrading force readiness<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That angst has been pin-pricked by a series of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-rules-ca-gov-overstepped-his-authority-with-covid-order-issues-permanent-injunction-restraining-newsom-from-further-issuing-unconstitutional-orders\/\" title=\"Judge Rules CA Gov Overstepped His Authority with Covid Order, Issues Permanent Injunction Restraining Newsom From Further Issuing Unconstitutional Orders\">executive orders issued<\/a> by President Joe Biden since 2021, beginning with a directive issued the day of his inauguration that revoked a September 2020 order issued by former president Donald Trump, lifting its restrictions on DEI-related training in the military.<\/p>\n<p>That was followed by a Biden executive order revoking a Trump-era ban on transgender people enlisting in the military and an ensuing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esd.whs.mil\/Portals\/54\/Documents\/DD\/issuances\/dodi\/130028p.pdf\">22-page DOD instruction<\/a> outlined rules for \u201cin-service transition for transgender service members.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A later 2021 Biden directive required \u201cfederal employees [including DOD], managers, and leaders to have knowledge of systemic and institutional racism and bias against underserved communities \u2026 and have increased understanding of implicit and unconscious bias.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives were further agitated when Biden\u2019s newly appointed secretary of defense, former U.S. army general Lloyd Austin, ordered a 60-day stand down \u201cto address extremism in the ranks\u201d in the wake of the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.<\/p>\n<p>That criticism has intensified in 2023 with Republicans in the 2022 midterms regaining a narrow House majority and the military\u2019s most significant recruiting shortfalls in the half-century history of the all-volunteer force.<\/p>\n<p>Through winter and spring, congressional Republicans have maintained the military\u2019s recruiting shortfalls can be at least partly attributed to negative publicity generated by requiring DEI training and point to the U.S. Navy\u2019s \u201cdigital ambassador\u201d elevation of a petty officer who moonlights as a drag queen as glaring evidence of a disconnect between marketing and the most likely prospective recruits.<\/p>\n<p>The DOD and service branch chiefs have attributed the shortfalls to a strong job market, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-amendments-would-cut-woke-progams-out-of-pentagons-proposed-budget\/\" title=\"GOP amendments aim to eliminate \"woke\" programs from Pentagon's budget.\">residual post-pandemic upheaval<\/a>, perceived quality-of-life issues, and the fact that only 23 percent of eligible-aged Americans are fit to serve and only 9 percent are willing to consider doing a stint in the armed forces.<\/p>\n<p>Alford said the amendments are \u201ccritical to eliminating the \u2018wokeness\u2019 in our military\u201d and getting rid of the \u201cunnecessary extremism working group\u201d would stop the Pentagon from \u201cwasting man-hours and taxpayer dollars on programs that do nothing to benefit our military but rather hamper recruitment and retention efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5137922\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/03\/21\/GettyImages-1233491907-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n    Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill with members of the American Legion in Washington, on June 16, 2021. (Samuel Corum\/Getty Images)<br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<h2>Amendments Encoded in Proposed \u2018Warrior Act\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The amendments appear similar to initiatives included in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/house-bill\/3278?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22Warrior+Act%22%5D%7D&#038;s=1&#038;r=1\">HB 3278<\/a>, \u2018The Warrior Act,\u2019 co-sponsored by representatives Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) and Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.).<\/p>\n<p>Waltz told The Epoch Times that his \u2018Working to Address Recruiting and Retention to Improve Our Readiness (Warrior) Act\u2019 will \u201cprovide much-needed reforms to prevent the Biden administration from further politicizing the Department of Defense and improve military readiness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like Alford\u2019s amendments, the proposed \u201cWarrior Act\u201d would require DOD to institute \u201ca hiring freeze of Equal Opportunity and Equal Employment Opportunity personnel, require an audit of DEI programs including \u201ca description of \u2026 how many man-hours were spent participating in the program \u2026 and the total costs associated with each program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joint chiefs of staff chair Army general Mark Milley in 2022 estimated the armed forces dedicated nearly six million hours and about $1 million in additional expenses to training sessions focused on these issues in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis averages to just over two hours per service member in a total force of 2.46 million members and is comparable to other Joint Force periodic training requirements,\u201d Milley wrote in a letter.<\/p>\n<p>During the March 28 House hearing, Veterans on Duty, Inc. chair Jeremy Hunt testified that the Pentagon\u2019s DEI program \u201csubjects some service members to 11-week resident DEI training classes\u2014despite the military\u2019s history of leading the fight against discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said in 2022, the army alone spent $114 million on DEI and \u201cin some cases we are paying these \u2018DEI bureaucrats\u2019 $200,000 a year,\u201d despite there being \u201cno data to determine if it actually works, which we know it doesn\u2019t, and whether there was any type of underlying data that necessities the dramatic increases of this programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Waltz said he filed the bill in May after hearing numerous complaints from the ranks about how divisive DEI training is and how much time is being wasted on the program.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Republicans are set to back three amendments urging the Pentagon to audit and remove diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training programs. This will be discussed during the House Armed Services Committee meeting on June 21, where they will review the proposed $874.2 billion FY24 NDAA. Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) disclosed this information on Fox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":509,"featured_media":1952107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[7790,5422,4463,6230,6203,7586,9734,5558],"class_list":["post-1952106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-aim","tag-amendments","tag-budget","tag-eliminate","tag-gop","tag-pentagons","tag-programs","tag-woke"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/509"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1952106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1952107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1952106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1952106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1952106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}