A group of House Republicans asked Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to take action against “creeping left-wing extremism” in the military.
The letter, led by Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale, was prompted by the department’s review of extremism in its ranks that the House Republicans worry will “root out servicemembers who will not affirm far-left doctrines,” as well as the implementation of a diversity and inclusion officer accompanied by a recruitment video that featured a lesbian wedding and a recruit marching in left-wing protests.
“The military’s long history of standing above politics has made it one of the most respected institutions in America and enabled our armed forces to both defend the Homeland and serve as one of the bulwarks of our constitutional order. That legacy is now in jeopardy,” the letter states.
The Tuesday letter was signed by 29 other Republicans, including Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs of Arizona, Georgia firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, and Texas Rep. Chip Roy.
Earlier this year, Austin spent 60 days reviewing “extremism” throughout the Defense Department, prompted in part by the arrests of dozens of current and former military members in relation to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot. He has ordered several actions to combat extremism, including defining the term, training veterans who might be targeted by extremist groups, and asking new recruits more about past extremist ties.
“Under the guise of reviewing ‘extremism’ within the ranks of the Department of Defense, it appears that political actors such as Bishop Garrison, the head of the working group tasked with defining extremist views for the Department of Defense, have been given broad freedom to both catechize and root out servicemembers who will not affirm far-left doctrines,” the letter said. “Your order for a ‘stand-down’ to ideologically assess servicemembers appears to have been connected to these efforts.”
The letter noted that Richard Torres-Estrada, who was hired to be the diversity chief for United States Special Operations Command, was quickly reassigned following the discovery of his tweets that compared former President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.
The Republicans also pointed to Space Force Commander Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, who was relieved of his command “due to loss of trust and confidence in his ability to lead,” following his appearance on a podcast to promote his book on a neo-Marxist agenda transforming the military. The letter suggested that the military may have instead rewarded Lohmeier “for sounding the alarm bell on extreme ideologies infecting the military.”
It also dinged the Army for releasing a recruitment video focusing on diversity that prompted widespread mockery and criticism from conservatives and Republicans.
“Recently the United States Army released a recruitment video titled ‘The Calling’ which describes marching in left-wing social protests as ‘defending freedom,’ depicts ‘two moms’ raising a child, features a lesbian wedding, and refers to the subject of the video’s service to this country as “shattering stereotypes,'” the letter said.
The letter is not the only way that House Republicans are combating left-wing diversity measures in the armed forces. Some Republicans are hoping to add amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act to tamp down on “woke” political bias in the Department of Defense. Some Republicans have also signed on to a bill called the Combatting Racist Training in the Military Act, aiming to ban teaching “critical race theory” in its ranks.
It is unclear whether Austin will respond to the letter, as it did not request specific information or ask questions.
Read the full letter from House Republicans to Austin below:
Author: Emily Brooks, Political Reporter
Source: Washington Examiner : House Republicans demand action against ‘left-wing extremism’ in military
