Tag: National Defense Authorization Act

Veteran: DOD Withholds Documents on Whether DEI Hiring Improves National Security

The Center Square
James Fitzpatrick

The U.S. Department of Defense is under scrutiny for refusing to release records about exactly how spending on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion helps with national security.

The Center to Advance Security in America in May filed with the DOD a Freedom of Information Act Request, the legal pathway to obtain government documents. The FOIA sought to find out what DOD officials estimate is the real impact on national security of DEI spending, for which Congress approved $86.5 million in fiscal year 2023.

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Tennessee to Receive Nearly $31.7 Million in New Defense Outlay

The Center Square
Arnold Engineering Development Complex

Tennessee could receive nearly $31.7 million to fund construction projects in the new defense appropriation that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

The biggest outlays for the Volunteer State would be for Arnold Air Force Base near Tullahoma. The base is the home of the Arnold Engineering Complex, which has 58 wind tunnels and other test facilities. The base would receive $21.4 million for a new testing bay and $5.5 million for a new cooling system.

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‘Incompetence’: Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Much Money It Sent to Chinese Entities for Risky Virus Research

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Science Lab

The Department of Defense (DOD) does not know how much money it directly or indirectly sent to Chinese entities to conduct research on viruses with pandemic potential, according to a new report by the DOD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG).

The OIG’s report found that DOD has supplied Chinese entities — whether directly or indirectly via subgrants — with taxpayer cash to research pathogens and the enhancement thereof, but the exact figure is unknown because of “limitations” in the DOD’s internal tracking system. Government funding for such research in China has come under scrutiny since the coronavirus pandemic, which multiple government entities believe started when an engineered virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory that was hosting U.S. government-backed gain-of-function research.

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House Passes $883 Billion Defense Spending Bill with Abortion, LGBT Provisions

Just the News
US Military

The House on Friday approved an $883.7 billion defense spending bill that includes provisions addressing a number of provisions addressing social issues such as abortion, LGBT matters, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices.

The inclusion of such provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is sure to set up a standoff with Senate Democrats, which have not yet released the upper chamber’s version of the plan, according to The Hill.

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Pentagon Says It Can’t Calculate Diversity Training Costs Because Congress Defunded DEI Offices

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Soldiers

The Pentagon told Congress it could not provide a required accounting of diversity training to Congress because it didn’t have enough people working in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) positions, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.

Congress mandated the Pentagon compile a report detailing how much the entire military spent on diversity training, salaries for DEI administrators and any impacts on recruiting and retention across the force that was due March 1, according to last year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets defense policy for the next fiscal year. But the Pentagon is nearly two months behind the due date for the report after the same defense authorization act for fiscal year 2024 slashed the salaries of DEI personnel, effectively gutting the departments, the DCNF learned.

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FISA Renewal Deadline Fast Approaching amid Bipartisan Call for Ending Warrantless Surveillance

Just the News
Mike Lee and Dick Durban in front of FISA court (composite image)

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) renewal deadline is fast approaching as conservative lawmakers and some Democrats continue their push for ending warrantless surveillance.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including conservative and progressive legislators, have called for reforming section 702 of FISA ahead of the April 19 deadline.

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Congress Votes to Extend FBI Warrantless Surveillance Tool Without Reforming It

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Congress voted Thursday to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) with no reforms as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA.

Section 702 of FISA is a tool that intelligence officials have allegedly abused as it enables them to surveil Americans without obtaining a warrant. After the Senate passed FISA through the NDAA on Wednesday and failed to get sufficient support to eliminate the four-month extension, the House of Representatives finalized it in a vote on Thursday.

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Analysis: The Unfinished Work Congress Is Leaving Behind as It Breaks for Thanksgiving

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Congress

Both houses of Congress have adjourned for two weeks until after Thanksgiving even as major legislative work that must be completed before the year ends remains unfinished.

The Senate and House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown scheduled for Nov. 17 on Wednesday and Tuesday, respectively, the second such resolution since Sept. 30 amid efforts to pass appropriations bills for the upcoming fiscal year. Afterward, both houses adjourned until Nov. 27 and 28, even though they have not considered the following major legislative items, such as the Farm Bill and National Defense Authorization Act, which need to be passed before the end of the year.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles Updates from Inside the ‘Raucous Chamber’: ‘What’s the Pathway to Peace’ in Ukraine?

Tennessee Star Staff

Tennessee U.S. Rep Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on the newsmaker line Friday for a broad-ranging interview covering everything from FBI Director Chris Wray’s “tap dancing” to the prospects of our Tennessee Army reservists being sent to the Ukraine.

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Unvaccinated Military Members Still Facing Repercussions Despite Rescinded COVID-19 Mandate

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Despite the Department of Defense rescinding the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, unvaccinated military members are still facing repercussions, including denied benefits, ineligibility for promotion, being non-deployable, and potentially diminished employment prospects for those already discharged.

On Dec. 23, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the $858 billion defense spending bill that included a measure repealing the mandate. On Dec. 29, the Defense Department followed suit, rescinding the mandate that has frayed military morale and resulted in the discharge of over 8,000 service members who refused the vaccine.

In rescinding the vaccine mandate, the DOD acknowledged the NDAA requires Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to rescind his Aug. 24, 2021 memo issuing the sweeping order.

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Though the Military Vaccine Mandate Is Overturned, Unvaccinated Troops Still Risk Reprisal

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While the Biden administration has officially reversed the military COVID-19 vaccination mandate, servicemembers who escaped discharge for refusing the vaccine still risk retaliation and could be booted anyway, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Ongoing class action lawsuits thwarted the military’s efforts to discharge thousands of troops who objected to the mandate before the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law Friday, overturned it. However, servicemembers may risk reprisal even after the deadline passes for the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement the repeal, staining the records of thousands of servicemembers for the remainder of their careers, experts explained to the DCNF.

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Biden Signs Defense Bill into Law, Overturning Military COVID Vaccine Mandate

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President Joe Biden signed Congress’ annual defense bill for 2023 into law Friday, giving his approval to a bill that overturns his own administration’s mandate that servicemembers must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2023 authorizes $858 billion in spending on energy programs, the military and procurement, $45 billion more than the Biden administration’s initial request. Biden expressed concerns over several provisions of the act in a statement Friday but made no mention of a GOP-sponsored item overturning the Department of Defense’s service-wide vaccine mandate, despite the administration’s robust opposition to the provision.

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Most of Georgia’s Congressional Delegation Votes in Favor of Defense Spending Bill

Eric Burk

Most of Georgia’s congressional delegation voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), including both Democratic senators, five out of six Democratic representatives, and five out of the eight Republican representatives. After the bill passed out of the Senate on Thursday, Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) said the bill included his own legislation to help veterans access their service records, and Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) touted the inclusion of the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA), which includes $75 million in water infrastructure spending for rural and economically disadvantaged regions in Georgia.

“I’m so glad we were able to get this year’s NDAA over the finish line with tremendous bipartisan support. Georgia notched notable wins in this year’s defense package, including bolstering Georgia’s military bases, ensuring our state is a crucial component to our nation’s national defense for years to come and securing more affordable military housing for servicemembers and their families,” Warnock said in a press release.

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Florida U.S. Rep. Greg Steube Vows Justice for Troops Punished for COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal

Just the News

Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube is vowing to introduce legislation to obtain justice for those punished for refusing to comply with the military’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

“I intend on filing my own bill,” Steube said on the John Solomon Reports podcast Wednesday. “I am … not naive” about prospects for passage of such a bill in a Democrat-controlled Senate, he said, “but thankfully, the House has the power of the purse, and … when we do the appropriations process over the next year, we can put riders on appropriations bills to tell the Department of Defense how they’re going to give relief to these individuals.”

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Commentary: Immigration Amendment Doesn’t Belong in National Defense Authorization Act

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It’s National Defense Authorization Act time again,  and as usual, Congress is trying to pack the must-pass bill chock-full of provisions and 1,230 amendments, most of which have no place in the bill and, worse,  nothing to do with national defense.

This year, special interests are attempting to include dangerous and pricey provisions that would encourage, and throw more money at, illegal immigration and worsen the Biden border crisis.

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Commentary: Adam Schiff Is Hiding Something

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Jeffrey Rosen had a secret on January 6, 2021.

The then-acting attorney general—Rosen was appointed on December 24, 2020 to replace departing Attorney General William Barr—had assembled a team of elite and highly skilled government agents at Quantico, a nexus point between the FBI and U.S. military, the weekend before Congress met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. At the same time he was rejecting President Donald Trump’s last-minute appeals to investigate election fraud, Rosen was managing a hush-hush operation in advance of planned rallies and protests in Washington on January 6.

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David Schweikert Introduces Amendment to Withdraw $6 Billion in Military Inflation-Subsidy Spending from the National Defense Authorization Act

Neil Jones

Arizona Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ-06) introduced an amendment Monday to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to remove $6 billion in additional inflation-adjustment spending.

“There is no question that reckless spending by Democrats and the Biden administration have contributed greatly to inflation that is burdening families in every corner of our country,” Schweikert said in a press release. “The last thing we should do is use taxpayer dollars to subsidize increased federal spending to cover rising inflation costs in our annual defense bill. I hope that Democrats accept my amendment and strike this wasteful and unnecessary spending.”

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‘Sci-Fi Becoming Reality’ as New Government Office Studies UFOs

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The U.S. will establish a new government program that will investigate unidentified aerial phenomena, also known as UFOs, TODAY reported.

The National Defense Authorization Act called for the creation of the permanent office and was a part of a bipartisan effort spearheaded by Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. “I really see this as trying to know what is knowable and not having a head in the sand perspective on this,” she told TODAY.

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Congress Passes $770 Billion Defense Bill, Prevents Discharge over Vaccine Refusal

The Center Square

Congress passed a $770 billion defense bill Wednesday, authorizing a wide range of military spending for the next year.

The Senate passed the bipartisan 2022 National Defense Authorization Act with an 89-10 vote, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden. The bill, which is passed annually in some form, includes a revamp of how the the military deals with sexual assaults as well as a 2.7% pay increase for military members and employees at the Department of Defense.

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Biden, Congress Seek to Chip Away at Gun Rights with United Nations Arms Treaty, Military Red Flag Law

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handgun with ammo

Congressional Democrats and the Biden administration are attempting to nibble away at the Second Amendment from both within and without the U.S., gun rights advocates warn, as Congress seeks to pass a red flag law for military members and the president eyes signing on to a United Nations arms treaty.

Red flag laws that would apply to military members were slipped into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by the House of Representatives last week with the help of 135 Republicans.

Red flag laws are “essentially bypassing due process,” Gun Owners of America’s Director of Outreach Antonia Okafor told the John Solomon Reports podcast on Wednesday. “It is going from one person who says they accuse you of being a danger to yourself, or to somebody else, and then going to a judge that then gets reasonable suspicion, right, that you are a danger to yourself or somebody else.”

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Defense Bill Sails Through the House with $24 Billion Increase

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Supreme Court and Capitol building

The House late Thursday passed the National Defense Authorization Act after a marathon day of voting on hundreds of amendments as Congress continues work toward a government funding bill with a potential shutdown one week away.

The $768 billion defense bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, with 316 lawmakers voting in favor. It now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to pass and soon after become law as it has yearly for nearly six decades.

It provides an additional $24 billion for the defense department compared to last year’s legislation, an amount touted by both Washington Democratic Rep. Adam Smith and Alabama Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, the House Armed Services Committee’s chair and ranking member.

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TikTok Parent Company Limits Screen Time for Chinese Kids to 40 Minutes Per Day

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TikTok maker ByteDance announced Saturday it was limiting screen time for Chinese users under 14 years old.

The Chinese version of video sharing platform TikTok, called “Douyin,” unveiled a new “youth mode” feature that limits the use of its app for children under 14 to 40 minutes a day, its parent company ByteDance announced Saturday. The app will also be unavailable for children between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., ByteDance said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Senator Blackburn: Democrats Are Working with Us to Pass COVID-19 Relief

Corinne Murdock

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) shared that the current COVID-19 relief bill is a bipartisan effort closer to $1 trillion. The senator explained in a press conference Thursday that the move is favored by Democratic legislators over efforts by House Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

“The good thing is that there are Democrats that have said to Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer that they think it is wrong to hold out for a $3 trillion dollar deal, and saddle our future generations with that debt. So they’re working with some Republicans on a bill that is closer to a trillion dollars. So, the bill that we as a Republican conference had agreed on was about a $600 billion bill.”

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Blackburn Joins Other Senators in Urging Trump Administration to Reach Consensus with Congress on Two-Year Budget That Fully Funds the Military

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined her colleagues in encouraging officials with President Donald Trump’s Administration to reach consensus with congressional leaders on a two-year budget deal to fully fund the military. Blackburn, along with Senators that include David Perdue (R-GA) and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK), sent the letter to Acting Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to a press release from Blackburn. The full letter is available online here. In the letter, the senators caution that another continuing resolution (CR) would devastate the United States military, delay the implementation of the President’s National Defense Strategy (NDS) and increase costs. Blackburn recently voted to fund the United States Military in Fiscal Year 2020, via the National Defense Authorization Act, The Tennessee Star reported Monday. The NDAA funds crucial projects that will directly impact military communities in Tennessee. According to the letter, “The Administration’s efforts last year to pass the Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations bill on time allowed our military for the first time in a decade to be properly funded without the use of a continuing resolution…

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Blackburn on Senate Passage of NDAA:  This Bill Secures Big Wins for Tennessee Military Community

Chris Butler

  This week Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee voted to fund the United States Military in Fiscal Year 2020, via the National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA funds crucial projects that will directly impact military communities in Tennessee. Blackburn is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Tennessee is honored to be home to multiple military bases,” Blackburn said in a press release. “The sacrifice our members of the military make in service to our country can never be repaid. It is essential that we provide our men and women in uniform with the support they need to protect the United States and to provide for their families. This bill, which I worked on alongside my colleagues in the Senate Armed Services Committee, seeks to meet that goal.” The FY 2020 NDAA meets President Trump’s requested budget of $750 billion to fully fund the military. It also provides men and women in uniform with a 3.1 percent pay increase – the first since 2010, according to Blackburn’s press release. Blackburn secured funding for projects that will have a direct effect on military communities in Tennessee and on the mission of the Armed Forces to protect and defend…

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