House panel to debate Afghanistan, China and critical race theory during hearing on defense bill

CNN

By Daniella Diaz and Melanie Zanona, CNN

Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee are planning to file dozens of amendments on a major defense bill Wednesday that will force Democrats on the panel to vote on a variety of politically fraught issues, from Afghanistan and China, to banning the teaching of critical race theory.

The committee is meeting to mark up the National Defense Authorization Act — a sweeping defense bill that authorizes spending levels and outlines priorities for the US military — where lawmakers offered more than 700 amendments that will likely force debate to go past midnight.

Of particular concern for Republicans is Democrats’ view of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, where the administration has been accused by Republicans of botching the end of the 20-year war. Republicans plan to use this as a talking point ahead of the 2022 midterms, where they hope to win back the majority from Democrats.

Congressional aides say the amendments include provisions to tell Congress what weapons may have fallen into the hands of the Taliban and what intelligence the Pentagon may have shared with them. Other proposals would designate the Taliban as a foreign terror organization, prohibit funding to the Taliban and require an Afghanistan counterterrorism plan from the Biden administration.

In some cases, vulnerable Democrats on the panel will have to choose between taking a stance against their own party or taking tough votes on controversial issues that could be used against them in attack ads ahead of the midterms.

In addition to the Afghanistan policy, ranking Republican member Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama said he will offer an amendment to boost the Pentagon’s budget by $25 billion. That proposal may also attract bipartisan support, just as it did in the Senate Armed Services Committee in July, in a rebuke of the Biden administration.

Also, Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks of Indiana, who’s on the committee, will introduce the amendment that would ban the teaching of critical race theory or any related theories in the military.

This comes after GOP Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas forced a similar vote on an amendment that would ban federal funds from backing teaching critical race theory in schools during the Senate’s vote-a-rama on the budget resolution (the amendments were non-binding). West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin was the only Democrat to support the amendment with all 49 Republican senators.

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CNN’s Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb contributed to this report.