Sen. Eric Schmitt ripped Pentagon leaders on Wednesday for defending an agenda that emphasizes issues like diversity and inclusion, which he says are dividing fighters and politicizing the world’s largest military force. .
“The incredibly divisive offspring of identity politics has now made its way through DEI formations in these branches,” Schmitt, R-Mo., told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. , referring to the Pentagon’s diversity, equity and inclusion. agenda. “It’s naïve to believe that this doesn’t divide recruits or the military.”
“We heard from members of the military who said they didn’t appreciate being subjected to this,” he added. “This totem of grievances, this oppressor versus oppressed.”
Schmitt spoke after a handful of military witnesses downplayed complaints about a “woke” program at the Pentagon, which Republicans say contributes to the difficult recruiting environment for all branches of the service.
“The Department of Defense (DOD) must do at least as much effort to address the recruiting crisis as other initiatives such as extremism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and abortion” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the committee’s top Republican. “These initiatives are at best a diversion. At worst, they deter young people from enlisting.”
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Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., dismissed claims by military officials that the Pentagon’s DEI program has no effect on recruits or morale. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images)
Witnesses for Democrats and the Biden administration rejected those GOP claims and cited other factors, such as record high unemployment making it harder to fill volunteer ranks, rising obesity rates and lower test scores that reduce the number of qualified recruits, and a general lack of interest among young Americans to serve.
Committee chairman Sen. Jack Reed, DR.I., cited a Pentagon survey that found only 5% of those polled worried about “woke” policies in the military.
“Diversity and inclusion strengthens our military,” Reed said. “By every measure, the U.S. military is deadlier and more ready than it has ever been. It’s also more diverse and inclusive than ever before. And that’s no coincidence.”
But Schmitt and other Republicans have dismissed the idea that pursuing a social agenda somehow leads to more lethality and said the flow of social policy dictates and “dropouts “extremism divides the military and destroys the capacity of the army, without improving it.
“This obsession with the equity agenda that you’re all championing today with just some kind of word salad is divisive. I don’t know what it means to ‘develop initiatives that have measurable outcome metrics based on the fairness,'” Schmitt said. “And by continuing that, it drives a wedge into the military.”
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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley have been accused by Republicans of caring too much about social policies and not enough about recruiting and the war . (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“Can someone tell me what the measures of equity are? What are we measuring?” He asked.
“For the Navy and the Marine Corps, the ultimate measure of our performance is our ability to deter, fight and win wars,” replied Navy Under Secretary Erik Raven. “And in close consultation with the leadership of the Navy and Marine Corps services, we have heard that developing diverse and capable teams is critical to developing combat capabilities.”
Schmitt responded by citing 2022 reports that Andersen Air Force Base in Guam issued a memo urging service members not to use the pronouns “he” and “her.”
“How does it help us to be a better fighting force by not referring to a man as ‘him’ or ‘her’ in a memo?” Schmitt asked. “How does that help us? How does that make us a deadlier fighting force?
Wicker argued at the hearing that the constant drumbeat of DEI and extremism falsely tells Americans that the US military is filled with social cohesion issues, when it is not. And he said it effectively cautions young Americans against signing up.
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Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., argued Wednesday that the focus on social issues sends the message that the military is filled with social cohesion issues, when it is not. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“They suggest to the American people that the military has a problem with diversity and extremism,” Wicker said. “In truth, the military is the greatest civil rights program in the history of the world.”
Wicker said the Biden administration’s fight against extremism in the ranks was particularly troubling because the Pentagon itself later agreed that fewer than 100 service members across all branches exhibited potentially troubling extremist behavior or had links with extremist groups. He said the DOD also created a defense equity team that released a “DEIA strategic plan,” but Wicker said the military isn’t showing as much interest in solving the recruiting problem.
“I’m just wondering: where is the same urgency at the Ministry of Defense with respect to the very real recruiting crisis?” He asked. “Where is the strategic recruitment plan? »
“National media, and unfortunately some in the administration after Jan. 6, started telling this narrative that we have all these extremists in the military,” added Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. “The Washington Post used to write this about once a week. By the way, it was ridiculous.”
“Don’t you think that has an impact on recruitment, that for a year we have been saying that we have all these ‘extremists’ in the army?” he asked the witnesses.
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Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo said he had seen “no evidence” that the message hurt recruiting. But he and other witnesses agreed that there is no endemic extremism in the military.