The Pentagon’s budget will be on the chopping block when Republicans explore spending cuts in order raise the federal debt ceiling. “Wokeness” in the military will be main focus the Republican budget cuts as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and others have pointed to programs including efforts to diversify the military, identify alternative fuels and other environmental initiatives.

The Cuts

“We’re going to cut money that’s being spent on wokeism, we’re going to cut legacy programs, we’re going to cut a lot of waste,” Rep. Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told The Hill on Wednesday. Rogers did not say what specific programs they will push to cut but did say to stay tuned for announcements.

Rep. Austin Scotttold The Hill that if Congress needs to make cuts in the defense budget, “let’s start with the woke ideology and finish with the bureaucracy.”

“The recruiting and retention in the military is at an all-time low, and the DoD needs to quit focusing on the woke ideology and focus on the mission of supporting our warfighters,” Scott said in a statement.

The Opposition

According to The Hill:

While eliminating “woke” programs appears to have broad support within the House GOP, there appears to be some opposition to topline cuts to defense spending.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement he supported defunding programs like diversity and inclusion training but wanted to increase spending for the Navy.

“I won’t vote for a bill that cuts defense spending, and I think most of the conference agrees with me,” Banks said.

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