By Wallace White | The Daily Caller News Foundation
A national security watchdog is suing the Department of Defense (DOD) for not turning over records pertaining to the promotion of a top Army general who has “advocated publicly” for embedding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into the military.
The Center to Advance Security In America (CASA) filed the lawsuit Wednesday with the Washington, D.C., district court, compelling DOD to release communications and other materials related to Ronald Clark, who was nominated in July for Commanding General at Fort Shafter, headquarters for the U.S. Army in the Pacific Ocean.
Clark said DEI “was a goal” in the Army, while also praising renaming military bases that use confederate names as a “huge step forward.”
“Ronald Clark is someone who has advocated publicly for DEI programs in the military to be expanded and prioritized by leadership,” CASA Director James Fitzpatrick told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“CASA brings this lawsuit in order to bring transparency to the American public on the records and communications surrounding Clark’s selection for promotion to lead the Army’s largest Service Component Command.”
Meet Ronald Clark, a radical Biden nominee for Commanding General at Fort Shafter, Hawaii who believes that DEI is “a goal across our army.”
Clark believes that renaming bases is a “huge step forward” because they stand for white supremacy.
He also wants to implement DEI… pic.twitter.com/cVStPIF5WH
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 11, 2024
CASA initially filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in August, but the DOD has yet to respond to the request, according to the lawsuit. Among the requests in the FOIA were communications pertaining to Clark and his promotion, including calendar entries, messages to the media and phrases commonly used in DEI parlance.
“Over 117 days have elapsed since CASA submitted its request to DOD, yet DOD still has not made a determination with respect to it,” CASA’s lawsuit states.
Clark’s nomination was briefly put on hold in September by Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, with the senator citing Clark’s alleged role in keeping lawmakers uninformed over Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization in February for a complication with his prostate cancer surgery, according to the Washington Post. Tuberville has also long opposed “woke policies” in the military, including tax-payer funding for abortions for military personnel, DEI initiatives, and the firing of troops over refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned in the 2024 election on reducing so-called “woke” politics in the military, saying he would create a task force specifically to root out DEI, according to the Independent. Trump’s Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth also is a long-standing critic of left-wing policies in the military, such as DEI initiatives and allowing transgenders in the military.
The Biden administration has introduced a slew of left-wing policies which have been criticized for allegedly causing a drop in recruitment in recent years, such as investigations by Austin into so-called “extremism” in the military which invariably targeted conservatives. However in 2024, recruitment rose by 12.5% despite a persistently “challenging and disinterested recruiting market,” particularly among young people, according to the DOD in October.
“Radical diversity, equity, and inclusion policies have creeped [sic] into almost every facet of military operations and the approval of these policies seems to act as a credential for aspiring military officers to move up the ranks,” Fitzpatrick told the DCNF.
The DOD didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
First published on The Daily Caller News Foundation
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