DOD • STARRS Authors • Woke Agenda

House Pushes Back Against Wokeism in Defense Bill NDAA – CMR Interim Report No. 2

11 July 2024

By Elaine Donnelly
President, Center for Military Readiness

I am pleased to send you this original CMR Feature Article on our website, which provides essential information about military/social issues in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025:

CMR’s article includes our 2nd Interim Report on NDAA Amendments. As you will see, members of the House of Representatives are responding to enormous public controversy about wokeism in the military, but we still have a long way to go.

The House defense bill, H.R. 8070, includes many positive measures and a few problematic ones, while the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) resurrected problematic “Draft Our Daughters” legislation in their bill, for no good reason. House/Senate Conferees should drop “Draft Our Daughters” and affirm sound policies that strengthen our military instead of weakening it.

A. House Approves Many Anti-Woke Provisions in NDAA for 2025

House Republicans have a more narrow margin this year, but they nevertheless stepped up to include in the House NDAA for 2025 many of the issues that CMR suggested in our Challenge to Congress in January.

Many positive provisions were included in the House Defense Authorization Act for 2025:

If approved in Conference and signed into law, House NDAA provisions would, for example:

  • Affirm meritocracy and ban racial discrimination at the military service academies, with at least 30% weighted consideration of standardized text scores.
  •  Prohibit establishment or maintenance of any committee, office, or other organization promoting “diversity, equity, & inclusion” (DEI) programs in DoD Education Activity (DoDEA) schools for military dependent children.
  • Limit new DEI positions or vacancy replacements, making last year’s DEI personnel hiring freeze permanent.
  • Eliminate the Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) of the Department of Defense, plus DEI offices and personnel elsewhere.
  •  Prohibit the purchase or display of material promoting radical gender ideology or pornographic content in DoDEA schools.
  • Prohibit toxic critical race theory (CRT) instructions in DoDEA schools.
  • Prohibit use of DoD funds for objectionable purposes, such as time off and transportation to obtain “non-covered” abortions across state lines.
  • Prohibit Tricare coverage for “sex reassignment” surgeries for adults and children.
  • Prohibit use of Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) funds to obtain “gender transition” procedures, which cannot change sex.
  • Prohibit drag show performances and story hours for children on military bases.
  • Prohibit mask mandates and provide reports on still-unresolved harmful consequences of COVID-19 mandates.
  • Prohibit “Climate change” executive orders and electric vehicle mandates.
  • Limit the power of base commanders to approve inappropriate flags or displays.
  • Provide briefings and reports on matters such as the Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity & Inclusion (DACODAI), terrorist and foreign actor infiltration of DoD facilities, and reinstatement of servicemembers separated due to COVID-19 mandates.

The CMR 2nd Interim Report: NDAA Amendments lists more positive proposals that were not approved and should be resubmitted next year. It also lists some negative proposals that did not pass, and a few measures of concern that were approved and included in the House bill.

For example, House bill Sec. 532 would waive restrictions on new recruits testing positive for cannabis (marijuana). Another approved measure would automatically register young men with Selective Service. Combine the latter idea with “Draft Our Daughters” in the Senate bill, and this Congress will have approved a defense bill that shocks the nation with a Selective Service mandate that is both anti-women and harmful to readiness.

A review of all these military/social issues underscores the need for constituents to participate in this process. If you would like to encourage your Representatives and Senators in Washington, DC, to take these issues seriously, you can reach them at: 202/224-3121.

You can also send short messages through individual Senate or House websites. Let the lawmakers know (respectfully) that you expect action to end wokeism in the military now.

B. Getting “Merit” and “Sex” Right

CMR has expressed concerned about one provision, Sec. 523, which could have unintended consequences that are explained in this article:

Writing in The Federalist, CMR Legal Counsel William A. Woodruff also explained why the House Bill’s Sec. 523, titled “Merit Principles,” should be corrected with one clarifying word and definitions for two consequential words: “merit” and “sex.”

Absent a definition of “merit” the Defense Department will exploit the loophole and continue discriminating with race-conscious DEI mandates. Last year’s defense bill incorporated a watered-down meritocracy measure, but that did not stop the Pentagon from using “race” as a proxy for “merit” in personnel decisions.

Absent specific definitions in Sec. 523, DoD will continue current discriminatory policies, while claiming compliance with law because, as Prof. Woodruff wrote in his article, “Diversity is our strength.” They will also double down on policies that interpret “sex” to mean “gender identity,” confirming current transgender policies that deny reality.

The Department of Education’s misinterpretation of “sex” is destroying the meaning of Title IX – a law that Congress wrote to increase opportunities for women and girls in athletic programs and competitions.

This is why we are seeing biological men competing against women in sports, unfairly “winning” women’s scholarship money, and invading their privacy in showers and other facilities that used to be reserved for women.

In the same way that the Department of Education has stretched the meaning of “sex” to mean “gender identity,” Sec. 523’s prohibition of “sex” discrimination, without a definition that is tied to biological science, would allow DoD officials to define the word as they wish.

DoD interpretations of undefined NDAA language, with what would be called authorization by Congress, would prohibit sound policies that rationally recognize differences between military men and women. The harmful consequences, however, would be even more difficult to undo.

CMR hopes that problems with this legislation will be resolved in Conference, likely to take place in September.

C. Senate Moves to Draft Our Daughters

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Report on the NDAA, which will include amendments proposed and vote results within the SASC, won’t be released until after July 8. According to news from Sen. Eric Schmidt (R-MO) and a commentary by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), there are some helpful provisions in the Senate bill.

A reported “Draft Our Daughters” provision, however, is unacceptable for many reasons:

CMR has been working with several other organizations and leaders who immediately denounced “Draft Our Daughters” legislation, which would harm women while undermining military readiness.

This matter is not about “culture war” – a condescending term often used to diminish the importance of military/social issues that affect morale and readiness. It involves questions about what would happen in an actual national emergency that would trigger a call-up of draft-age men previously registered with Selective Service.

Since “Draft Our Daughters” is based on “equity,” an equal number of men and women would have to be called up at the worst possible time – a catastrophic national emergency requiring to replace soldiers lost in battle. A 50-50 mixed sex call-up would hopelessly jam the system, since very few women would qualify for occupations made necessary in time of war.

CMR has led the fight against this misguided proposal many times and we will do so again. This is CMR’s Statement filed for the Record of the Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on Final Recommendations and Report of the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service, March 11, 2021:

CMR also filed a friend of the court brief in a Supreme Court case that a men’s organization had brought to challenge women’s exemption from Selective Service registration:

The Supreme Court denied the Petition for Certiorari filed by the National Coalition for Men. 

The House and Senate versions of the NDAA for 2025 will be reconciled in a Conference Committee meeting later in the year. Again, anyone wishing to encourage Representatives in Congress and Senators in Washington, DC, can reach them by calling this number: 202/224-3121. Messages can also be conveyed through individual Senate or House websites.

D. Appropriations Committee Defense Bill Would Defund Wokeism

We appreciate the efforts of House Appropriations Committee members who have responded to growing public disapproval of woke military policies in their House Defense Appropriations Act for 2025. (See “Key Takeaways,” p. 3). As Bill Gertz of the Washington Times reported, the Appropriations Committee’s Defense Bill includes a host of positive provisions to defund wokeism in the military.

One way to get a sense of how many positive provisions House Appropriations Committee members adopted in their defense bill is to review the “Statement of Administration Policy,” which strongly disapproves of those measures.

On everything from “reproductive rights” to “gender affirming care” and continued funding for the DEI Industrial Complex, the Biden Administration is firmly entrenched on the wrong side.

Much will be decided in the 2024 elections – Everyone should have a plan to vote!

CMR needs your help to continue reporting on what happens next. All contributions are greatly appreciated, but in return for a generous tax-deductible donation of $150 or more, CMR will send a copy of Pete Hegseth’s best-selling book, The War on Warriors, a $30 value.  To send a tax-deductible gift to CMR, using our secure webpage, please click here.

If you prefer to send your tax-deductible gift to CMR by mail, please send it to: Center for Military Readiness, P. O. Box 51600, Livonia, MI 48151.

Articles of Interest:

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The Center for Military Readiness (CMR) is an independent public policy organization, founded in 1993, which reports on and analyzes military/social issues. More information is on the CMR website, www.cmrlink.org. To make a tax-deductible contribution to CMR, click here.

First published on Center for Military Readiness

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