Exclusive — Sen. Eric Schmitt: Military Diversity Initiatives ‘Drives a Wedge’ Between Servicemembers

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) cheered the passage of the NDAA, which has his anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) amendments.

The Senate passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday night.

“I’m proud to have spearheaded the effort to strip woke and divisive DEI politics out of our military. The United States military has been one of the world’s great meritocracies, and the Biden Administration’s attempts to infuse DEI policies and administrators into our military only drives a wedge between our servicemembers. These reforms are critical, but the fight isn’t over – I promise that I will continue to lead on this issue,” Schmitt explained in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News.

Schmitt, a freshman senator, successfully fought to include four amendments into the Senate-passed NDAA, which would limit the Department of Defense’s (DOD) ability to conduct DEI initiatives.

Breitbart News reported about the four amendments:

1. Amendment 371 directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to fully audit the DOD’s DEI workforce and its planned expansion over the next five years to provide transparency.
2. Amendment 373 prohibits DOD from establishing a new DEI administrator position and/or taking actions to fill vacancies in currently existing DEI billets, pending the outcome of the GAO report.
   1. Schmitt’s office contends that this would result in significant civilian personnel costs that can address threats such as China
3. Amendment 382 would require the Under Secretary of Defense (USD) to provide a report to the Armed Services Committee on the Enhanced Education Program within the National Defense Education Program. Schmitt’s office noted that there are concerns that awards in this program are based on “progressive” curricula such as Critical Race Theory (CRT)
4. Amendment 377 would require the Secretary of State to detail the total manhours and resources expended on diversity, equity, and inclusion in 2023

President Joe Biden and Biden Pentagon officials have argued that the military’s DEI efforts would make the military stronger.

As Breitbart News’s defense correspondent, Kristina Wong, noted  “they were short on data to back up their arguments.”

Watch: CNO Can’t Explain Why Navy Hosted DEI Summit

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Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.