Biden Opposes House GOP Defense Bill, Cites DEI Concerns

 This week, the Biden administration announced it opposes House Resolution 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act which was passed by the GOP-led House, complaining it had “devastating consequences” for “access to reproductive healthcare … the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Americans, endangered ‘marriage equality,’” and prevented the Biden administration from “promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, which make the Nation’s military a more ready and lethal force.”

“If the President were presented with H.R. 8774, he would veto it,” the Biden administration’s Office of Management and Budget declared. The White House criticized a Republican effort to cut $621 million for “DOD’s accounts identified as climate change-related.”

The White House also said it “strongly opposes section 8122 of the bill, which would provide that USSOUTHCOM assume combatant command responsibility for activities related to Mexico.” OMB then explained that section 8122 would impede President Biden’s capacity “to organize military command and control through approval of a Unified Command Plan consistent with title 10, United States Code, section 161.”

The White House opposed sections 8136, 8137, 8138, and 8139 of the bill, complaining, “These provisions would interfere with the President’s ability to determine the appropriate disposition of GTMO (Guantanamo Bay) detainees and to make important foreign policy and national security determinations regarding whether and under what circumstances to transfer detainees to the custody or effective control of foreign countries.”

 

The White House strongly opposed section 8167 of the bill, “which would prohibit the use of funds for the construction, maintenance, operation, or assembly of any pier or any structure built off the coast of Gaza.” The Gaza pier built by the Biden administration reportedly cost roughly $230 million; pro-Hamas terrorists launched a mortar attack on the pier in late April, U.S. officials said.

“The Administration strongly opposes section 8153, as it contradicts Executive Order (EO) 14004, “Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform,” and EO 13988, “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation,” which expands the discrimination protections previously offered solely on the basis of sex into the categories of gender identity and sexual orientation,” OMB stated.

“The U.S. Military is the best fighting force in the world and it is one of the most diverse fighting forces in the world. Efforts to undermine DOD’s inclusion policies would undermine its efforts to foster a stronger and more resilient fighting force,” OMB claimed.