‘WE DO NOT TEACH CRITICAL RACE THEORY’: About halfway through yesterday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing, the discussion veered away from the proposed 2022 defense budget to the hot-button issue of “critical race theory,” with Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz questioning Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about the case of Space Force Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, who was relieved of command last month.
“He was not relieved of his command because of poor performance regarding his duties. He was relieved of his command precisely because of his thoughts and because of his critique of critical race theory,” said Gaetz, who asked Austin how the Pentagon views critical race theory.
“I don’t know what the issue of critical race theory is and what the relevance is here within the department. We do not teach critical race theory. We don’t embrace critical race theory. And I think that’s a spurious conversation,” Austin replied. “We are focused on extremist behaviors and not ideology, not people’s thoughts, not people’s political orientation. Behaviors is what we are focused on.”
BISHOP GARRISON: Gaetz then quizzed Austin about why he appointed Bishop Garrison as his senior adviser on diversity, equity, and inclusion, heading a working group aimed at countering extremism in the ranks, calling Garrison a “critical race theorist” and pointing to a July 2019 tweet in which he labeled former President Donald Trump a racist. “Support for him, a racist, is support for ALL his beliefs,” he tweeted.
“This is the first I have ever heard Mr. Garrison be described as a critical race theorist, so this is new,” Austin replied, while admitting he did not review his tweets before hiring him.
Next up was fellow Florida Republican Rep. Michael Waltz, a former Green Beret, who pointed out that at West Point, critical race theory was part of the curriculum and that cadets read a textbook titled Critical Race Theory: An Introduction.
“This type of teaching, that is rooted in Marxism, that classifies people along class lines, an entire race of people as oppressor and oppressed. I cannot think of anything more divisive and more destructive to unit morale,” Waltz said.
“This is not something that the United States military is embracing and pushing and causing people to subscribe to,” Austin replied. “Now, whether or not this was some sort of critical examination of different theories, I don’t know.’
IS MARXISM UNDERMINING THE US MILITARY?
‘I WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHITE RAGE’: It was only near the end of the hearing that Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley gave a full-throated defense of teaching about and discussing the concept of “critical race theory” with military leaders.
“A lot of us have to get much smarter about whatever the theory is, but I do think it’s important, actually, for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and be widely read,” Milley began. “The United States Military Academy is a university, and it is important that we train and we understand.”
“And I want to understand white rage, and I’m white and I want to understand it,” he said. “So, what is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America? What caused that? I want to find that out.”
“I’ve read Mao Zedong. I’ve read Karl Marx. I’ve read Lenin. That doesn’t make me a communist. So, what is wrong with understanding, having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?” Milley continued. “And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned and noncommissioned officers of being, quote, ‘woke’ or something else because we’re studying some theories that was out there.”
‘I DO WANT TO KNOW’: America’s top general concluded with a brief synopsis of his understanding of critical race theory.
“That was started in Harvard Law School years ago, and it proposed that there were laws in the United States, antebellum laws prior to the Civil War that led to a power differential, what African Americans that were three-quarters of a human being when this country was formed,” Milley said. “And then, we had a Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation to change it, and we brought it up to the Civil Rights Act in 1964. It took another 100 years to change that.
“So, look … I do want to know … it matters to our military and the discipline and cohesion of this military.”
MILITARY’S TOP GENERAL SAYS IT’S ‘OFFENSIVE’ TO CALL OFFICERS ‘WOKE’
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HAPPENING TODAY: Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton is holding a news conference at 9 a.m. at the Capitol triangle with veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq to unveil an “evacuation plan for Afghan allies.”
“I don’t need to tell you this, but these brave Afghan partners, these Afghan and American heroes, people who we asked to risk their lives not just for Afghanistan, but for America because we had their backs,” Moulton told Austin at yesterday’s House hearing. “Their future is in your hands, and this much is certain, the Taliban will kill them if they can, and they will rape and murder their wives and kids first, if they can.”
Then Moulton asked Milley, “If the service chiefs were ordered to evacuate our Afghan allies today, is there a plan in place to get that started immediately?”
“We have the military capability to do whatever is directed by the president of the United States with respect to our allies and those that have worked with us,” Milley replied. “And I consider it a moral imperative to take care of those that have served along our side. We are prepared to execute whatever we are directed.”
ALSO TODAY: Then, at 12:30 p.m., Senate Armed Services ranking member Jim Inhofe and Sen. Dan Sullivan will discuss their objections to the Biden defense budget in the Senate Radio-TV Gallery.
‘BAD CHOICES’: At Tuesday’s Armed Services Committee hearing on the Navy budget, Inhofe and Sullivan tag-teamed to denounce the Biden spending plan as “a lousy budget.”
“This isn’t difficult choices. This is bad choices. If you look at where the Biden administration is prioritizing our military, it’s dead last,” said Sullivan. “Every other agency gets a double-digit increase. But for the military and defense of our nation, it’s dead last”
“While China is growing its fleet, our Navy is struggling to avoid shrinking,” said Inhofe. “The budget also proposes to inactivate 15 ships, 10 of which have more years of service left. It buys six [fewer] F-35C joint strike fighters than required, divests all 12 patrol crafts, cuts Navy and Marine Corps ammunition by roughly 10%.”
‘$753 BILLION IS A LOT OF MONEY’: At yesterday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing, Chairman Rep. Adam Smith, a Washington state Democrat, argued that the Biden defense plan was “more than adequate” and pointed out when you add the money for nuclear weapons programs administered by the Energy Department, the total spent on defense is not $715 billion, but $753 billion.
“$753 billion is a lot of money. Even in the United States of America, it’s a lot of money. And we ought to be able to adequately defend our country for $753 billion,” said Smith. “I think the budget the president has submitted is more than adequate. It is a $12 billion increase over last year’s budget. And the budget before that was only a $3 billion increase over the previous budget.”
IT’S NOT HOW MUCH, BUT HOW: Smith, and for that matter, the Pentagon, argues it’s not the top line that matters but how the money is spent now on capabilities that will equip the military to adapt to the changing nature of war, which will rely on information systems and connectivity.
“Simply massing a huge amount of firepower in one place isn’t enough if you can’t protect those systems and you can’t get adequate information and if those systems are not survivable,” said Smith, pointing to a recent U.S.-China war game simulation run by the Air Force in which, unlike most previous war games, the U.S. actually won.
“It totally flipped how that went,” Smith said. “And it wasn’t about the sheer volume of stuff that we had; it was about having a different set of capabilities, capabilities that could survive, capabilities that could get information to our war fighters reliably in crucial circumstances.”
“The FY ‘22 presidential budget strikes an appropriate balance between preserving present readiness and future modernization,” testified Milley. “It’s a downpayment on the investment of the future, with a bias toward the future operating environment and the change in the character of war.”
$521 MILLION PAYMENT OVERDUE: Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing yesterday that if the Guard is not reimbursed for the $521 million cost of operational capital response, training, operations, and maintenance will have to be severely cut for the rest of the year.
“Thet funding is very significant — that’s a significant amount to any organization, especially the National Guard,” said Hokanson. “If we don’t get that funding fairly soon, we’ll have to look at not only August but also September, the last two months in the fiscal year of either curtailing completely or drastically reducing our National Guard drill weekends, and annual training as well as our operational maintenance.”
On Capitol Hill, Austin also made the case to lawmakers, “If we don’t resource the Guard, what will happen is it’ll begin to erode readiness. It will disallow them to conduct training in accordance with the schedules that they should be on,” he told the House Armed Services Committee. “So, this is very, very important to us, and I would encourage you and ask for your help in providing those resources.”
DID BIDEN HOLD UP AID TO UKRAINE AS A SOP TO PUTIN? Republicans are accusing the Biden administration of withholding a package of lethal military equipment to Ukraine that was intended as a response to Russia’s threatening troop buildup on Ukraine’s eastern border.
Among the Republicans taking aim at the White House are House Foreign Affairs Committee lead Republican Michael McCaul, House Armed Services Committee ranking member Mike Rogers, and Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jim Inhofe.
On Fox News on Sunday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan called the charge “nonsense.”
“Congress appropriated $275 million for aid to Ukraine this year to be spent by September. It is June,” Sullivan told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace. “We have spent every dime of every dollar of that $275 million for Ukraine.”
“The additional $100 million was a contingency package in the event that there was a further Russian incursion into Ukraine. That’s money over and above the $275 million. And it was created when there were tens of thousands of Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border,” Sullivan said. “When those troops pulled back and didn’t go into Ukraine, we have held that package in reserve in the event that it may become necessary in the future.”
Inhofe called that “a fancy way of saying, ‘We won’t take further action until Russia invades further into Ukrainian territory,’ at which point it will be too late.
“I call on President Biden to immediately release this emergency security assistance to Ukraine. If there is one thing we know about Putin, it’s that we can’t afford to wait.”
“The United States should not wait for the Kremlin to cross any more ‘territorial red lines’ in Ukraine before sending additional military assistance to Kyiv. Instead, the Administration should send this lethal aid immediately to deter further Russian aggression,” said McCaul and Rogers in a statement. “This Administration has time and time again chosen to appease the Kremlin at the expense of Ukraine. This must end.”
US DECRIES AIRSTRIKE IN TIGRAY: “The United States is gravely concerned by reports that dozens of civilians were killed or injured during a bombing of a village market in northern Tigray on June 22,” the State Department said in a statement yesterday.
The attack on a crowded market in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region came as the country is in the midst of presidential elections.
The U.S. called for an immediate ceasefire in Tigray, as well as an “urgent and independent investigation … to hold those responsible for this attack accountable.
“We strongly condemn this reprehensible act. There are also credible reports that security forces denied medical personnel access to the victims of this terrible attack. Denying victims urgently needed medical care is heinous and absolutely unacceptable.”
INDUSTRY WATCH: The Space Development Agency is scheduled, for the first time, to put satellites into orbit aboard SpaceX’s Transporter 2 commercial rocket when it launches Friday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
“The Falcon 9 mission will include five SDA satellites,” the Pentagon said on its website. “These include a pair of ‘Mandrake II’ satellites; two ‘Laser Interconnect Networking Communications System,’ or LINCS, satellites; and a satellite carrying the SDA’s Prototype On-orbit Experimental Testbed, or POET, experiment.”
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The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Opinion: Britain shows Biden how to deal with Russian aggression
Washington Examiner: Military’s top general says it’s ‘offensive’ to call officers ‘woke’
Washington Examiner: National Guard threatens to cancel training and exercises if not reimbursed for $521M Capitol deployment
Washington Examiner: Pentagon linguist who passed secrets to Hezbollah sentenced to 23 years in prison
Washington Examiner: Oath Keeper affiliate pleads guilty to conspiracy in Capitol riot case
Washington Examiner: Biden administration forces head of Border Patrol to leave post immediately
The Hill: Top U.S. General Downplays Taliban Battlefield Gains
Wall Street Journal: U.S.’s Afghan Exit Is Seen Hastening Government’s Fall
Air Force Magazine: Austin: GBSD’s Future Will Depend on New Nuclear Posture Review
USNI News: Milley: China Wants Capability to Take Taiwan by 2027, Sees No Near-term Intent to Invade
CNN: Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Says ‘We Need To Prepare’ For Military Conflict With China
Defense One: It’s Time To Wargame Against An AI-Enabled China
Air Force Magazine: Why USAF Wants to Cut ISR Operations in Fiscal 2022
USA Today: Despite Troop Withdrawals, Pentagon Points To Deployments’ Impact On Climbing Suicide Numbers
New York Times: Iran Atomic Agency Says It Foiled Attack on Facility
Wall Street Journal: North Korea Gives The U.S. The Cold Shoulder On Nuclear Talks
Washington Post: Russia says it fired warning shots at a British warship in the Black Sea. It didn’t, says U.K.
BBC: HMS Defender: Russian Jets And Ships Shadow British Warship
Military.com: Russia Practiced Destroying an Enemy Carrier Strike Group While the Carl Vinson Was Nearby
19fortyfive.com: North Korea Has Collapsed: The Headline You Don’t Want to Ever See
19fortyfive.com: China’s Next Aircraft Carrier Will Be a Nuclear-Powered Monster
Calendar
9 a.m. House Triangle, U.S. Capitol — Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., news conference with veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq to unveil an “evacuation plan for Afghan allies.”
9 a.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace virtual International Nuclear Policy Conference discussion: “Alliances, Proliferation, and Escalation Risks in Northeast Asia,” with former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea retired Adm. Harry Harris. https://carnegieendowment.org
9:30 a.m. G-50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration on atomic energy defense activities in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2022, with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm; and Charles Verdon, acting administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration. http://www.armed-services.senate.gov
10 a.m. 192 Dirksen — Senate Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee hearing on proposed budget estimates and justification for FY2022 for the Navy and Marine Corps, with acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker; and Adm. Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations. http://appropriations.senate.gov
10 a.m. — House Foreign Affairs Europe, Energy, the Environment and Cyber Subcommittee hearing: “NATO 2030: A Celebration of Origins and an Eye Toward the Future,” with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former NATO secretary-general and former prime minister of Denmark; Rose Gottemoeller, former NATO deputy secretary-general, former undersecretary of State for arms control and international security affairs; and Ivo H. Daalder, former U.S. ambassador to NATO. http://foreignaffairs.house.gov
10:30 a.m. 210 Cannon — House Budget Committee hearing on “Department of Defense’s FY2022 Budget,” with Michael McCord, Defense undersecretary, comptroller/CFO; and Vice Adm. Ronald Boxall, director of force structure, resources and assessment, the Joint Staff. https://budget.house.gov/
12:30 p.m. Senate Radio-TV Gallery, S-325 U.S. Capitol — Senate Armed Services Ranking Member Jim Inhofe and Sen. Dan Sullivan will discuss defense spending and the Biden budget. https://twitter.com/SenateGOP
12 p.m. — R Street Institute virtual discussion: “When You Wish Upon a DOD Budget,” focusing on the Pentagon’s unfunded priorities list, with Mark Thompson, defense analyst at the Project on Government Oversight; Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting; Andrew Lautz, director of federal policy at the National Taxpayers Union; Ramesh Ratnesar, opinion editor at Bloomberg; and Jonathan Bydlak, director of the R Street Institute’s Governance Program. https://www.rstreet.org/event/pentagon-purse-strings
1 p.m. — Defense One virtual Tech Summit, with Mieke Eoyang, deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy; Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I.; and Chris Lynch, CEO and co-founder, Rebellion Defense. https://d1techsummit.com
2:30 p.m. — Center for Security Policy webinar “A Discussion with Senator Ted Cruz,” with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Victoria Coates, senior fellow, Center for Security Policy; and Fred Fleitz, president and CEO, Center for Security Policy. https://register.gotowebinar.com/register
FRIDAY | JUNE 25
12 p.m. — Heritage Foundation virtual discussion: “Preview of the Heritage Foundation’s 2021 China Transparency Report,” with Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio; former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Feith, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security; Chad Wolf, visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Davis Institute; and Walter Lohman, director of the Heritage Asian Studies Center https://www.heritage.org/asia/event/virtual-preview
1 p.m. — Defense One Tech Summit, with Tim Grayson, director, Strategic Technology Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; and Lisa Sanders, director of science and technology for special operations forces, acquisition, technology and logistics, U.S. Special Operations Command. https://d1techsummit.com
MONDAY | JUNE 28
2 p.m. — Hudson Institute virtual event: The U.S. Maritime Industrial Base and Competition with China,” with Rep. Rob Wittman R-Va.; Rep. Mike Gallagher R-Wisc; and Bryan Clark, Hudson Institute senior fellow. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-event
TUESDAY | JUNE 29
2 p.m. — Association of the U.S. Army’s Thought Leaders webinar, with retired Col. Tom Vossler and retired Col. Jeff McCausland to discuss their book, Battle Tested! Gettysburg Leadership Lessons for 21st Century Leaders. Register at: https://info.ausa.org/e/784783/s-Webinar-Series-Battle-Tested
11 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “The Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Budget Request for the Department of the Army,” with Christine Wormuth, secretary of the Army; and Gen. James McConville. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
4 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems hearing, “Department of Defense Information Technology, Cybersecurity, and Information Assurance for Fiscal Year 2022,” with John Sherman, acting Pentagon chief information officer. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 30
3 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces Hearing: “Fiscal Year 2022 Rotary Wing Aviation Budget Request,” with Douglas Bush, acting assistant secretary of the army for acquisition, logistics and technology; Maj. Gen. Walter Rugen, director, Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team, Army Futures Command; Frederick “Jay” Stefany, acting assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition; Lt. Gen. Mark Wise, deputy Marine Corps commandant for aviation; Rear Adm. Andrew Loiselle, director, Air Warfare Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; Darlene Costello, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics; Brig Gen. Mark August, director, Air Force Global Reach Programs. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’ve read Mao Zedong. I’ve read Karl Marx. I’ve read Lenin. That doesn’t make me a communist. So, what is wrong with understanding, having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend? And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned and noncommissioned officers, of being, quote, ‘woke’ or something else because we’re studying some theory that was out there.”
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifying about the teaching of critical race theory at West Point
