Pelican State News

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) voted for the "Merit-Based Personnel" amendment included in the House-passed version of the annual defense budget bill, but it remains to be seen if, as Speaker, he will work to ensure that amendment is included in the final bill approved by a House-Senate conference.

The 2024 National Defense Reauthorization Bill (NDAA) is the bill that funds America's military. The version of the NDAA that passed the House included several amendments introduced by Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) that Banks referred to as "anti-woke amendments."

One of those amendments was a provision called the "Merit-Based Personnel" amendment that would require the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to issue a policy that stipulates that all military accessions, assignments, selections, or promotions must adhere to merit-based principles and prohibits numerical quotas on applicant pools.

Banks' amendments also would prohibit racial quotas in admissions to service academies.

Prior to losing the speakership, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) named Johnson to the House-Senate conference committee that will resolve disagreements between the House and Senate versions of the NDAA. Those versions differ on several key points, including Banks' merit-based recruiting and promotion provisions included in the House-passed version of the bill. It remains to be seen if now-Speaker Johnson will push for their inclusion in the final bill that will need to be approved by both houses before being sent to the President. 

The House version included provisions that included the elimination of all Pentagon "Diversity, Equity Inclusion (DEI)" programs, the blockage of military school libraries from purchasing or possessing "pornographic radical gender ideology books," and a prohibition on DOD health programs covering gender reassignment procedures, reported CNN.

The Senate-passed version includes funding for "DEI" programs and does not prohibit "social and diversity" quotas on promotions and assignments.

Despite passing in the House, Armed Services Committee Chair, and NDAA conferee, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) expressed doubts that these measures would make it into the final bill. Rogers told Politico that “nobody on our side seriously believes the Democrat-controlled Senate, Democrat White House is going to accept" the merit and DEI provisions in the final bill and that the House provisions were about setting "down a marker." 

The Biden Administration opposes the Banks Amendments and the requirement that the military base promotion decisions solely on which candidate is best for the job, rather than their race or identity, reported the NY Post.

A recent Pentagon program called "Diversity Aimed Officer Program" drew criticism from GOP lawmakers due to its structure that seemed to prioritize female non-white applicants reported The Daily Caller.

A survey of active service members conducted by the Heritage Foundation earlier this year found that 68% had witnessed some, or a significant level of, politicization in the military. A further 65% of respondents expressed that they were somewhat or very concerned about this development.

A lawsuit against West Point was recently filed by Students for Fair Admissions challenging the institution’s race-based admissions policies, reported CNN. The same group won an affirmative action case against Harvard UNC-Chapel Hill earlier this year.