Congress’s proposed military budget should be a vehicle to fight the use of critical race theory in the armed services, says Sen. Jim Inhofe.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS AIM TO STAMP OUT ‘WOKE’ MILITARY TRAINING
The Oklahoma Republican is taking a cue from his GOP counterpart on the House Armed Services Committee, Chairman Mike Rogers of Alabama, who previously told the Washington Examiner that GOP lawmakers want to use the annual National Defense Authorization Act as a way to defund “anti-racism” training that military rank and file are forced to endure.
Another key player in the fight is Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, and vice chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee. Inhofe is looking to Shelby to oppose any continued funding of programming related to critical race theory in the military.
Then, there’s Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who told the Washington Examiner that the military should remain focused on being the “most lethal force in the world to defend our freedoms.” Scott, a Navy veteran, added that Inhofe is “smart” to look at the NDAA, which usually passes with bipartisan support, as a legislative vehicle.
And Sen. Jim Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican on the Appropriations Committee, told the Washington Examiner, “If there’s a funding mechanism that is designed to say you are a certain person or a certain type or a certain attitude based on your skin color, why would we ever allow that as a nation?”
Republicans expressed alarm following examples of rank-and-file military service members being scrutinized for holding political views that differed from the Biden administration.
Following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called for a militarywide “stand-down” discussion to root out extremists and domestic terrorists within its own ranks.
More recently, Space Force Commander Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier was ousted from his post after alleging that the Pentagon sent out a video to U.S. military personnel that accused the United States and white people of being “evil.”
Lohmeier claimed the video“taught that the country was evil, that it was founded in 1619 and not 1776, and that whites are inherently evil.”
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“My Republican colleagues and I hear regularly from active-duty and retired service members that even holding conservative values is now enough to endanger a service member’s military career,” Rogers said. “I believe that this is an issue that must be addressed in this year’s NDAA and look forward to working with my Republican colleagues on the committee and any free-speech-minded Democrats interested in joining our cause.”
When in office last September, former President Donald Trump eliminated such anti-racism training in federal agencies through an executive order, only to have it revoked by President Joe Biden on his first day in office.
