Republicans and Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee battled furiously Wednesday over several proposed measures that target diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives at the Pentagon during the regular markup of an annual defense bill.
Republicans offered amendments to the draft version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would eliminate the Pentagon’s chief diversity officer, cut off funding for DEI programs and enforce a review of DEI initiatives, among others.
The proposed amendments sparked fury from Democrats, who accused Republicans of widening divisions over race, gender identity and sexual orientation, ignoring legitimate national security needs to attack DEI and of hurting recruitment efforts by decreasing diversity initiatives.
Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), who is Black, battled with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who introduced two of the amendments, with the lawmakers often cutting each other off to get their points across.
Horsford blasted the DEI amendments as an attempt from the GOP to drive a “wedge” in the military.
“The military knows that diversity of our soldiers is actually our strength,” he said. “So why wouldn’t we include diversity, equity and inclusion? But this is not about that — this is about a wedge issue.”
Republicans hit back that DEI efforts were distracting the Pentagon from military readiness, hurting recruitment efforts and spreading divisions within the ranks.
Gaetz also argued that Congress essentially created its own problem with DEI in the military by authorizing the programs.
“I view this not as a wedge issue, not as divisive, but as remedial,” he said. “We have to go in and remediate the bad things that have happened as a consequence of this embrace of radical gender ideology and radical race ideology.”
All of the amendments are tabled for now, with a recorded vote on each slated for a later date.
The fiery tensions, played out during a public House committee, highlight a growing divide between the GOP and Democrats on DEI efforts more broadly but specifically in the military, which has only grown more contentious after Republicans took over the House in January.
The House Armed Services Committee has held hearings this year on DEI, with the GOP often grilling Pentagon officials for their efforts to advance diversity in the armed forces. Defense officials have said that a diverse military not only accurately represents the nation but also creates a more capable fighting force.
Republicans have also hammered the Pentagon over drag shows, leading to a newly enforced ban on the events across military bases.
The committee clash is also likely a preview of more to come when the full House debates the NDAA, which is crucial to fund the Defense Department’s discretionary spending, later this year.
To defend DEI programs as bettering the armed forces, some Democrats on the committee shared stories about having to work twice as hard or struggling when serving in the military as a minority.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), a former Navy helicopter pilot, said she did not “always feel” that the military was a welcoming place.
“I was told by one of my flight instructors that it was going to be very uncomfortable for him to have a woman as a flight student because in his belief system, women should not be in flight school,” she said. “Women are still experiencing that in the United States Marine Corps.”
Other Democrats said ignoring the problem of racism, bigotry and anti-LGBTQ views across America only creates a worse problem.
“If you believe there’s no bigotry in [minority] groups and that the history against those groups has no impact on the society we have today, then you’re utterly clueless,” said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking member on the committee.
Other culture war issues, partly a reflection of the debate raging across America, also popped up Wednesday.
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) introduced an amendment to ban funding for the teaching of critical race theory — an academic framework evaluating U.S. history through the lens of racism that has become a political catch-all buzzword for any race-related teaching — within the military’s service academies, setting off yet another round of debate that had little to do with defense.
Both sides, however, agreed that the divide over culture issues was a distraction from addressing national security needs.
“We are not enemies, we all want a strong military we just have different ideas of how to get there,” said Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.). “But this argument, this debate we are having today, is the current divide in our nation. There’s too much yelling in America.”
