House GOP: Pentagon ‘Wokeism’ Hurts Recruiting, Degrades Readiness

House Republicans insist the Biden administration’s emphasis on “woke” policies, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training, is politicizing the U.S. military and degrading the Pentagon’s readiness to fight a war.
House Democrats say Republicans are beating a “woke” drum to politicize army, navy, and air force recruiting shortfalls that the Pentagon—citing statistical surveys—attributes to a strong job market, quality-of-life issues, and a declining “propensity to serve” among America’s youth.
To engaged observers of committee reviews of President Joe Biden’s $863 million defense budget request, which has included a series of hearings before various panels on armed forces’ “wokeism” over the last month, the only verifiable aspect of these often belabored discussions is they do, indeed, reflect a split-screen of partisan politicization….}