Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) railed against committee staffers he says blocked his amendment to fund research using psychedelics to treat service members from being included in the National Defense Authorization Act.
Crenshaw filed a bill back in June that would have directed the Department of Defense to create a grant program to research the use of psychedelics in treating active-duty service members for traumatic brain injuries and disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Crenshaw’s hope this year was to get the bill in the NDAA.
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But after the funding for psychedelic research was stripped out of the bill in the House Armed Services Committee and the House Rules Committee decided not to include his bill as one of the 80 amendments set to be voted on for the NDAA, Crenshaw’s hopes were dashed.
The Texas Republican and former Navy SEAL blamed the Rules Committee staff for his amendment not being able to receive a vote on the floor.
Crenshaw said that despite Rules Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) saying he supports the legislation, Rules Committee staff ruled his amendment out of order.
“That tells me that there are staffers who are pushing this out for whatever reason they have, whether they claim it’s procedural or whatever, but they don't give us any time to react to it. Right. So they find a problem, and they squash it without giving us time to find a solution. That is unacceptable.” he said.
By not allowing his amendment to come up for a floor vote, Crenshaw said the staffers are hindering members from being able to vote on things they support.
“Every roadblock we've had has not been once because of a member,” Crenshaw said. “That's what's so frustrating about this. Unelected people should have no business changing legislation the way that's been happening. This is the frustration of a lot of members, not even just on this process.”
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A spokesperson for the Rules Committee did not respond to requests for comment.
Because of how his amendment was not included, Crenshaw originally voted no on the rule for the NDAA in protest but got assurances from House leadership and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that they were going to get the bill through either in conference or in the appropriations process.