Syndicated column: Democrats, too, politicize the Defense Authorization Act
There has been a highly political battle on Capitol Hill - actually, that's the only kind of battle they have on Capitol Hill - over U.S. defense policy and spending. The fight has been on two fronts: passage of the yearly National Defense Authorization Act, which sets military spending levels; and a Republican senator's decision to block Senate confirmation of military promotions until the Biden Pentagon changes its policy on abortion.
For the last week, Democrats have been accusing Republicans of "politicizing" what should be the nonpolitical issue of defending the United States against foreign attack.
GOP lawmakers have questioned the need for Pentagon policies for transgender soldiers, for example, and for various types of diversity programs. Some have focused on overturning a Biden policy in which the Pentagon will pay the expenses of servicewomen who travel to receive an abortion.
Some of the press coverage went along with Democrats' portrayal of themselves as the good guys and Republicans as the bad guys. A National Public Radio report on the debate was headlined simply "The politicization of the National Defense Authorization Act." And the widely read Politico Playbook reported "the formerly sacrosanct Pentagon bill became the target of culture-war amendments on abortion, diversity and gender that could scuttle its passage."
"Sacrosanct"? Really? In the past, year after year, was the National Defense Authorization Act a "sacrosanct" piece of legislation on Capitol Hill until extreme MAGA Republicans came along to hijack it?
The answer is no. Go back to the long-ago year of 2019. Democrats controlled the House of Representatives. And the "sacrosanct" National Defense Authorization Act they approved (with only Democratic votes) was filled with measures that might be called political. Among them was a measure to "block the Defense Department from spending money at Trump properties unless the president reimburses the government," according to a July 12, 2019, report in Roll Call.
There was a measure to make it more difficult for the Trump administration to detain illegal border crossers by banning "Defense Department facilities from housing any foreign national detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement." There was a measure to "allow transgender people to join the armed forces." There was a measure to remove the names of Confederate generals from U.S. military bases.
Does any of that sound even a little bit ... political? The fact is, Congress decides what the military can spend, and how it can spend it. And passing spending legislation in Congress is a political exercise. It's intended to be that way. The Democrats who today are claiming that Republicans are politicizing the National Defense Authorization Act were politicizing it a few years ago. They'll do it again as soon as they win back the majority in the House.
On the military promotions, since March Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has been blocking the mass confirmation of about 260 military promotions. As The Associated Press explained, "It's a decadeslong tradition for the Senate to group military promotions together and approve them by voice vote, avoiding lengthy (roll call votes)."
Democrats are outraged at Tuberville. Among those most outraged is Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who lost both legs in a helicopter crash in 2004 fighting in Iraq.
But it was Duckworth three years ago who blocked a huge number of military promotions in an effort to protect the status of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who played a key role in bringing the whistleblower complaint against then-President Donald Trump that led to Trump's first impeachment in 2019.
Duckworth's blockade ended after two weeks. And how did it end? When the Trump Pentagon gave her what she wanted.
Remember that when you hear some of those very same Democrats complaining that today's Republicans are "politicizing" the defense process.
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