Republicans exceeded expectations during the process of writing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2024, and this is good news for our military.  This 4-page CMR Policy Analysis highlights many positive measures that are incorporated in the pending House and Senate versions of the NDAA: 

• CMR Policy Analysis: Congress Has the Power to Fix Our Military

The outcome of this legislative cycle is uncertain, however, due to predictable administration opposition and intense controversy about various military/social issues in the Defense Appropriations spending bill as well as the NDAA.  It will take pressure from Americans who care about the military to get sound policy provisions enacted in law.  

In the meantime, Sen. Tommy “Coach” Tuberville has put a “hold” on group confirmations of groups of Department of Defense nominations until the DoD stops subsidizing time off and travel for abortions, or Congress votes on the issue.  Civilian Pentagon leaders have launched over-the-top attacks against Sen. Tuberville, which have set a bad example for troops who are supposed to remain non-political. 

What is really going on here?  CMR concludes in the article below that more is at stake than subsidies for abortion.  The operative word is “access” which appears repeatedly in Biden Administration policies regarding persons who seek abortions in states where they are legal.  The same word applies to servicemembers who seek sex-denying (transgender) treatments across state lines.  

This edition of CMR E-Notes also reports on written answers to Questions for the Record from senators considering the nomination of Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Given General Brown’s dismal record as Air Force Chief of Staff, and his doctrinaire “diversity, equity, inclusion” (DEI) agenda, which is worsening pilot shortages, it is regrettable that the Senate confirmed Gen. Brown as principal military advisor to President Biden.

With challenges like this ahead for our military, it is even more important that the Center for Military Readiness continue pushing back against extreme woke policies that advance leftist objectives at the expense of military morale and readiness. 

- Elaine Donnelly

A.  House/Senate Conference to Negotiate NDAA – Appropriations Bill Awaits Action

The House- and Senate-approved versions of the NDAA for 2024 will be consolidated by a Conference Committee meeting in October.  All issues of concern to CMR should be enacted in law, but if they are not, Republicans should redouble efforts to win the next election and return to address all the woke issues.  These include everything from racially discriminatory “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) mandates that weaken military meritocracy to greenhouse gas emission restrictions and transgender treatments that do irreversible harm to both adults and children.

• CMR Policy Analysis: Congress Has the Power to Fix Our Military

In addition to the defense authorization bill, the DoD Appropriations bill, H.R. 4365, approved under the leadership of Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), includes several measures that would cut spending for divisive social programs while providing funds to prioritize the fight against China, invest in modernizing the military, and counter the flow of fentanyl.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has stated that Congress must fulfill its duty to responsibly fund our national defense, support our military, and keep American citizens safe:   “But while Republicans focus on national security issues like deterring China, President Biden prioritizes promoting his radical social agenda, such as funding the Left’s green initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.”

The presence of leftist activists in the Pentagon increases the importance of adopting as many sound provisions in the defense bill as possible.  Much is at stake, since social change occurring in the military sets an example for other institutions, including civilian schools.

Individual members of the House and Senate, especially those who are members of the Armed Services Committees, can be reached by calling the central number for Congress: 202/224-3121.  Constituents also can express their opinions quickly by using individual website communication options for the House and Senate available at Congress.gov.

B.  Why Won’t the Pentagon Cooperate with Sen. Tommy Tuberville to End Nomination Confirmation Impasse?

The Center for Military Readiness, drawing on years of experience countering the LGBT Left, has spotlighted the consequences of letting Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sets a new precedent in making his own policy on subsidies for military women seeking abortions across state lines.

Earlier this year, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) warned that he would exercise his right under Senate rules to put a “hold” on Defense Department nominations until Secretary Austin revokes his unilateral policy or Congress votes to uphold or defeat it.  Since then, more than 300 Defense Department nominees for appointments or promotions have been awaiting confirmation. 

The rage being aimed at Sen. Tuberville suggests that something more is at stake than abortion subsidies only.  As this exclusive CMR article explains, if Secretary Austin can get away with subsidizing abortion without a vote of Congress, Pentagon ideologues will not stop there.

• CMR: Is Something Beyond Abortion Fueling Rage Against Sen. Tommy Tuberville?

The same officials who have willingly enlisted in the administration’s battle for abortion on demand until birth will expand “access” to other controversial medical services, without a vote of Congress.

Consider DoD Instruction 1300.28, which expanded Defense Department regulations regarding transgender personnel. 

• CMR: Biden Pentagon Quietly Expands Woke Transgender Policies in the Military

The DoD Instruction uses the word “access” for what is called “gender affirming care” seventeen times on twenty-two pages.  If Sen. Tuberville is forced to back down on abortion subsidies, transgender activist groups will demand subsidized travel and time off for military personnel or the parents of children who identify as transgender or seek treatments for gender dysphoria across state lines.

It is easy to predict where the activists and highly paid Pentagon “experts” are going with this; their intent is apparent already. 

According to the Daily Caller, the Department of Defense is quietly using Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) funds to reimburse the travel expenses of parents seeking transgender treatments for their children.  The program provides supportive options, including exemption from deployments for parents whose children require specialized medical treatments. 

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) successfully sponsored an amendment to the House NDAA (Sec. 640C) to prohibit the DoD from using EFMP funds for “gender transgender procedures.”  An amendment sponsored by Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), which would prohibit TRICARE from paying for “sex reassignment” surgeries, (Sec. 717) also was included in the House NDAA. 

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) introduced a measure that also passed the House, which would end DoD abortion travel subsidies that Congress did not vote for. 

If conferees remove these and other provisions from the NDAA before final passage, nothing will stand in the way of unilateral Defense Department travel subsidies for adults and children seeking non-covered abortions, or very expensive “medically necessary” transition treatments in states where they are legal.  

Concerned Americans should remind Congress of its constitutional power and responsibility to make sound policies for our military.  (See contact information above.) CMR will continue to follow and report on what happens next.

C.  Newly Confirmed Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. Likely to Do for the Entire Military What He Did to the Air Force   

It is rare to see a Defense Department nominee drawing as much opposition as Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr.  has drawn, based on his record.  Gen. Clark nevertheless has just been confirmed to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on an 83-11 vote. 

CMR appreciates the Republican Senators who voted No, but the list should have been longer: Mike Braun (IN), Josh Hawley (MO), Eric Schmitt (MO), Marco Rubio (FL), Ted Cruz (TX), Roger Marshall (KS), Mike Lee (UT), Ron Johnson (WI), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Tommy Tuberville (AL), and J.D. Vance (OH).  Tom Cotton (AR), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Debbie Stabenow (MI) did not vote.)

In July, CMR initiated an Open Letter encouraging Senate Armed Services Committee members to ask specific questions of Gen. Clark on specific issues ranging from meritocracy in the military, to mandates for percentage-based racial discrimination at the military service academies, “gender-neutral” pronouns, critical race theory (CRT) education programs that promote racial stereotypes and anti-American attitudes, and transgender policies that violate servicewomen’s privacy and rights to compete on military athletic teams reserved for women.

CMR later obtained Gen. Brown’s responses to written questions submitted after conclusion of the hearing.  This article analyzes Gen. Brown’s responses, which make it clear that he should not have been confirmed as principal military advisor to the President:

• Gen. Charles Q. Brown, New Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Equivocates About “Equality” in Senate Question Responses

CMR appreciates Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) for asking questions about sensitive but important issues such as a) Living conditions and violations of privacy related to the Biden Administration’s  transgender policies, b) Whether the military service academies should continue racially discriminatory admission practices, and C) The consequences for meritocracy if official pursuits of “racial balance” cause some people to be discriminated against in favor of other groups.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff advises the President; he is not in the chain of command and does not issue orders or directives.  Still, Gen. Brown will have enormous influence and CMR hopes that he will use it wisely.

D.  Articles of Interest:

• Elaine Donnelly, The Federalist: If The DOD Gets Away With Funding Abortions, It Won't Stop There
• Micaela Burrow Daily Caller: The Military Is Quietly Using A Little-Known Program To Enable Child Sex Changes
• Washington Examiner: The military's transgender policies enable men to shower with women
• STARRS: Air Force Chief of Staff has no problem with USAFA DEI training not to say Mom or Dad
• Daily Caller: ‘I Hire For Diversity’: Pentagon Nominees Blocked By GOP Senator Are Pushing Left-Wing Initiatives To Reshape the Military
• Bloomberg: Tuberville Says Military Is ‘Not an Equal Opportunity Employer’
• American Family News: Chad Groening: Where's the respect for female recruits?
• Gary Anderson, Military.com: Why Our Generals Can't Think
• Fox News: Female recruit considered resigning after being forced to shower with trans women with full male genitalia
• Kimberley Strassel: The Biden-Schumer Military-Promotion Blockade - WSJ
• Brent Ramsey, Armed Forces Press: Now Hear This - Armed Forces Press
• Breitbart: DOD Memo Says Transgender Soldiers on Hormone Therapy Can Skip Deployments
• Daily Caller: ‘Not grounded in fact’: Military academy set to be the new battleground over race-based admissions -
• Brig. Gen. Ernie Audino, National Review/STARRS: ‘Diversity’ is NOT a National Security Imperative
• Cully Stimson/Dakota Wood: Pentagon’s ‘Clarification’ on Gender Pronouns? When You’re in a Hole, Quit Digging
• Cully Stimson/Dakota Wood: Pentagon Reverses Gender-Neutral Pronoun Policy for Awards After Heritage Takes it to Task
• Scott Sturman, RealClearDefense: The United States Air Force Academy's White Boy #2
• Daily Caller: Air Force Doubles Down On Diverse Workforce, Would Pay $180,000 For Top Job | The Daily Caller

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 The Center for Military Readiness (CMR) is an independent, non-partisan public policy organization, founded in 1993, which reports on and analyzes military/social issues.  This edition of CMR E-Notes does not constitute endorsement of specific legislation.  More information is available on the CMR website: www.cmrlink.org.