Rep. Mike Waltz floats bill to end ‘woke’ military programs

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) will introduce a bill Thursday that would audit the US military’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, end instruction in critical race theory at service academies, and investigate the effects of the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on troops.

Waltz, a combat-decorated Green Beret, will submit the WARRIOR Act to push back against what he calls left-wing indoctrination in the military after at least one lieutenant colonel was removed from his position in 2021 for claiming DEI training is rooted in Marxism.

“Under the Biden Administration, the Pentagon has diverted its focus from lethality and have instead pushed initiatives that have politicized our warfighting ranks and harmed our military readiness,” Waltz said in a statement.

“Our military faces the worst recruiting crisis since the Vietnam War because young Americans don’t want to join what was once a trusted institution that has become overly politicized and hyper-focused on DEI initiatives. 

“The reforms proposed in this legislation will restore a merit-based culture to our ranks, audit unnecessary and political DEI programs, and require cost-benefit analysis reports for green-energy-focused proposals,” Waltz went on.

The bill comes after hearings in which congressional Republicans have grilled Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley about their role in pushing the woke priorities.

In March, Austin got into a disagreement with GOP members of the Senate Armed Services Committee over his institution of mandatory training to address extremism within the military.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) slammed Austin for having wasted more than five million man-hours on the trainings, which the defense secretary disputed.

Waltz’s bill would prohibit appropriated funds from going to any military investigations of potential extremists.

It would also bar funding for any race-conscious assignments or promotions by the Department of Defense.

Additionally, the Pentagon must submit a cost-benefit analysis to Congress before appropriations are made for any environmental and green energy projects.

The legislation would also ban the teaching of critical race theory in any military training and outlaw non-merit-based admissions to the academies.

The military schools must hire uniformed professors and other service members included under Title 10, except in rare cases.

Milley in a 2021 congressional hearing defended teaching critical race theory at West Point, saying it was important for US Army cades to understand “white rage.”

“I do think it’s important, actually, for those of us in uniform, to be open-minded and be widely read, and the United States Military Academy is a university, and it is important that we train and we understand,” he told members of the House Armed Services Committee.

“And I want to understand white rage, and I’m white, and I want to understand it.”

The WARRIOR Act would audit DEI programs that Waltz says “have caused greater division within the force,” and require Austin to submit a report by Dec. 1 to the Armed Services Committee on all such fiscal year 2022 programs.

The audit must list how many hours, billets, and personnel were involved as well as the total costs.

Waltz’s proposal also beefs up physical fitness requirements for the military branches after several recently loosened standards to boost recruitment.

The law also appoints a special master to probe the effects of the Biden administration’s COVID vaccine requirement for troops, uncover how many service members were adversely affected, and potentially restore service and provide back pay.

The legislation draws from a report by the Heritage Foundation that initially recommended an overhaul of US military training. The report was authored by retired Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, former State Department spokeswoman, and US Naval Intelligence Officer Morgan Ortagus, and retired Lieutenant General Rod Bishop Jr.