Republicans won a little-noticed victory this week in the massive $886.3 billion defense budget that is currently being voted on in Congress.

Democrats, likely forced to give concessions to Republicans so the military budget passes the House, agreed to slash funding for woke diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the military.

“The Pentagon has to remain focused on deterrence rather than a toxic and divisive social agenda,” Senator Roger Wicker (R-Ms.) said after the bill made it out of the Armed Services Committee.

Republicans are still trying to get other provisions passed in the defense spending bill include a provision that would define equity in a ‘merit-based’ fashion for military purposes as “the right of all persons to have the opportunity to participate in, and benefit from, programs, and activities for which they are qualified,”

The bill also places caps on salaries for Pentagon diversity officers and requires the Pentagon to disclose how much money is spent on DEI training for Department of Defense contractors.

Other attempts by Republicans to clamp down on ‘woke’ efforts were quashed after they failed to get the number of votes needed.

Senator Joni Ernst (R-Ia.) attempted to reverse a policy that pays for female servicemembers’ travel expenses to get an abortion, but the proposal failed in committee and was replaced with a more watered down measure.

The Daily Caller Reports–

Defense legislation approved by a key Senate committee Thursday seeks to limit the Pentagon’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) spending amid Republican criticism that such efforts are damaging to military readiness.

The Senate Armed Services Committee authorized an $886.3 billion defense budget for 2024 after hammering out its annual defense policy bill on Wednesday and Thursday behind closed doors, according to a summary of the bill released Friday. While the committee has not published the full text of the bill, the summary and GOP senators touted provisions they said would hold the DEI bureaucracy in the Pentagon accountable and ensure servicemembers are treated on the basis of ability, not race or gender, but does not appear to specifically address ongoing DEI programs in the Department of Defense (DOD).

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