The Senate Armed Services Committee has called on the Defense Department to halt its programs to prevent and root out extremism in the ranks.
The report accompanying the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act, which was made public late Monday, states the committee’s view that “spending additional time and resources to combat exceptionally rare instances of extremism in the military is an inappropriate use of taxpayer funds, and should be discontinued by the Department of Defense immediately.”
The language has not previously been reported in the press. While not legally binding on the Pentagon, it appears to send a signal of congressional opposition to efforts to counter extremist narratives in the military. The Defense Department initiative was fueled largely by the fact that dozens of people charged with ransacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were former or current service personnel — about 17 percent of those charged.
While the Senate report language suggests the committee as a whole supports halting counter-extremism training and analysis, the same document reveals that the committee approved including that section of the report by only the narrowest of margins: 14-12.
Every Republican on the committee voted for the motion, and every Democrat voted against it. Maine Independent Sen. Angus King’s vote in favor of the language tipped the balance in the GOP’s favor.
