Republican lawmakers sounded off against the Defense Department’s latest multimillion request to fund diversity initiatives in the wake of another failed audit.
House conservatives blasted the Pentagon’s $114 million request to fund diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, or DEIA, programs this week, saying the move was another example of the military focusing more on progressivism than warfighting, and exacerbating an already dire recruiting crisis.
The request, the Pentagon’s largest ever ask for DEIA funding, comes as the agency failed its sixth audit in as many years.
“The Pentagon has no idea where the hell all the taxpayer money that has been funding it went for the past six years, but they have the audacity to ask for more funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia posted on X.
She continued, “Does Joe Biden want the military to be a lethal fighting force or a clown show??”
Defense Department officials said in the request that the funding push was meeting President Biden’s proposal for this year’s budget and demonstrated the Pentagon’s “commitment ” to diversity activities.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to The Washington Times’ request to comment on conservative lawmakers’ criticism.
The Pentagon had never completed an audit until 2018 and has not passed one since taking on the task of auditing its over $3 trillion in assets. The department’s chief financial officer, Michael McCord, said of the failed report that “things are showing progress,” but that “it’s not enough.”
Mr. McCord’s optimism comes as the Pentagon made the same amount of progress as last year’s audit. The agency completed only seven of 29 required subaudits, the same tally as the year before.
Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida said on X that President Biden’s “weakness” has caused chaos around the globe.
“Now more than ever we need our military to be strong & focused solely on winning. But what did DOD request after failing its audit? $114M for DEI,” Mr. Donalds said. “We must get SERIOUS.”
The outpouring of criticism against the funding request comes months after the GOP-led House passed the $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which annually greenlights funding and policy changes for the Pentagon.
The legislation was jam-packed with conservative amendments designed to gut diversity, equity and inclusion positions in the military. The hot-button policy baked into the House’s version of the bill is likely dead on arrival in the Democrat-led Senate.
Both chambers passed their respective iterations of the NDAA in July, but have yet to meet in conference to hash out a final product.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.