For decades, support for the U.S. military was one of the few topics that brought Republicans and Democrats together. Each year, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees drafted a bill called the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorized funding for the military and established policy priorities for the Department of Defense (DOD).

Historically, these bills have been largely bipartisan as both parties were united in the belief that the United States military should be the most lethal fighting force in the world.

Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. Under President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, our military has been infiltrated by woke politics that have become a massive distraction from their mission. And this has resulted in detrimental impacts to military readiness and lethality.

Biden has weaponized the DOD to serve as a tool for his radical political agenda. He has mandated divisive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training, mandated that taxpayer dollars fund costs associated with elective abortions and gender transition surgeries for servicemembers and fired more than 8,000 able-bodied troops for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Thanks to Biden’s complete lack of leadership on the world stage, the United States is in one of the most vulnerable positions it has been in since the Cold War.

When Biden made the disastrous decision to prematurely withdraw from Afghanistan, abandoning our allies and costing the lives of 13 American servicemembers, a clear message was sent to our adversaries: Now is your opportunity.

Since then, his foreign policy of appeasement has led to wars all over the world, endangered global trade and put our troops in harm’s way. This completely preventable situation, in addition to our wide-open borders, has imperiled our nation to a degree not seen in my lifetime.

Now, more than ever, we need a military that is 100% focused on protecting our country and enhancing national security — not on implementing Biden’s woke agenda.

Biden’s overt politicization of our military has come at a price. In 2023, the Pentagon announced that it fell well short of its recruitment goals in what it referred to as “the toughest recruitment year for the military services since the inception of the all-volunteer force.”

This failure has created a national security emergency. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), I have had the opportunity to ask our top military brass about the head-scratching decision to focus on woke policies instead of addressing the recruiting crisis. Not surprisingly, they don’t have answers.

Thankfully, the version of the NDAA passed by SASC in June takes a step in the right direction. I introduced several amendments to slash identified funding for woke Biden initiatives and refocus the Pentagon on its stated mission to “deter war and ensure our nation’s security.”

The SASC-passed version of the NDAA cuts all identified funding for DEI programs at DOD. Under President Donald Trump, DOD was prevented from using federal funding for trainings on “divisive concepts.” Contrast that with Biden, who, on his first day in office, announced that the military would begin conducting training to “have knowledge of systemic and institutional racism and bias against underserved communities.” This divisive, hateful ideology has no place in the United States military. The military is not a social experiment; it is supposed to be a lethal fighting force feared by our enemies and comprised of our best and brightest. It is dangerous and insulting to waste our troops’ valuable time on political indoctrination.

The Senate NDAA also includes my amendment prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars for any costs associated with funding gender transition surgeries. In 2021, the Biden administration announced it would begin directing taxpayer dollars to pay for hormone therapy, mental health care, and surgeries for transgender servicemembers to transition to their desired gender.

It is not the job of taxpayers to pay for someone to get a controversial, elective procedure. Instead, taxpayer resources should ensure troops who are injured or sick get the quality, timely care they deserve.

Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Biden’s secretary of Defense announced DOD would begin using taxpayer dollars for travel and additional paid time off for military servicemembers, and their family members, who seek elective abortions.

This controversial policy was never approved by Congress and defies the federal law that prevents DOD from using tax dollars to perform or facilitate abortions other than in very limited situations. I was glad to see the House version of the NDAA includes a provision preventing taxpayer dollars from facilitating elective abortions for servicemembers and their dependents. While this amendment was not included in the Senate version, I am hopeful it will be part of the final bill that heads to the president’s desk.

Biden has us on the brink of multiple wars. Now, it is more critical than ever that our military is laser-focused on asserting dominance over our enemies.

We may have different priorities, but we should all agree that the United States military should attract and retain strong, smart servicemembers who will advance and protect our national security interests. I am proud of the progress we made in the Senate NDAA to refocus the military on its core mission.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) was elected to the Senate in 2020. Prior to that he spent 40 years in higher education as a college football coach, including as the head coach at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, where he coached for 11 years.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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