'Are You Going To Put A Stop To That?': Hawley Presses Top Trump Nominee To Purge DEI From Agency

2 days ago

At today's Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) questioned top Office of Personnel Management nominees.

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Transcript

00:00I thank you and I yield back my time.

00:04Senator Holling.

00:04Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

00:06Congratulations to the nominees.

00:08Nice to see you.

00:09Mr. Cooper, I enjoyed our conversation the other day.

00:11Nice to see you here in person today.

00:13As the nominee to be director of OPM,

00:16you're going to play a very significant role

00:17in overseeing policies that affect federal employee

00:20programs, of course, including those related to health care

00:22and employee benefits.

00:24And I just want to get your sense, your views,

00:27about pro-life policies and how they may influence

00:29your approach in this role, because it's

00:31going to be very important to what you do.

00:33Are you familiar with the Smith Amendment?

00:34Does that ring a bell?

00:35I'm familiar vaguely, but not with specifics.

00:37OK, well, let me, that's fine.

00:39Let me just give you a little refresher.

00:41The Smith Amendment is a longstanding pro-life provision

00:44of law since 1982 that prohibits financial services

00:47and government appropriations from being used.

00:49And here I'll just quote the statute

00:50for an abortion or the administrative expenses

00:53in connection with any health plan

00:54under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which

00:57provides any benefits or coverage for abortions,

01:00except for in cases of rape, incest, and life of the mother.

01:02That absolutely includes OPM.

01:04And it's significant, because prior to the Smith Amendment's

01:07enactment, OPM administered plans,

01:11these are federal health benefit plans,

01:13funded approximately 17,000 abortions nationwide yearly.

01:17This is with taxpayer money, I want to emphasize.

01:19Costing the taxpayers almost $10 million a year.

01:22Now, that was 40 years ago.

01:24So the Smith Amendment has been in effect since that time.

01:28It enacts and represents this bedrock commitment

01:31that we have that we don't use.

01:32Whatever your position may be on abortion,

01:34and I'm 100% pro-life, but even if you're not,

01:36we have long agreed in this country,

01:38we don't use taxpayer funding for abortions

01:42and for the administrative expenses

01:43associated with abortions.

01:44So with that background, will you commit

01:46to upholding the Smith Amendment and ensuring

01:48that OPM funds are not used in any way

01:52to support or promote or pay for abortion services?

01:54Yes, Mr. Senator, look, if I have the opportunity

01:57to serve at OPM, I'm gonna follow all of the laws

01:59and regulations, including the Smith Amendment,

02:01as you described, so anything that is appropriate

02:04under the legal framework, I can assure you we'll follow.

02:07Good, fantastic.

02:08Your predecessor in this role used her post

02:12to promote with a vengeance, if I might say,

02:15critical race theory, intersectionality, DEI.

02:18I mean, let me just hit a few of the highlights.

02:21This is Karen Ahuja.

02:23While she was chief of staff for OPM

02:25during the Obama administration,

02:27she praised civil unrest in the United States,

02:29praised it as a means of finally coming to terms

02:32with our racist history as a country.

02:35While she was OPM director,

02:37she published the government-wide strategic plan

02:40to advance DEI and accessibility,

02:43diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility

02:45in the federal workforce.

02:46She created the Chief Diversity Officers Network Council.

02:50She issued guidance on gender identity,

02:53directing agencies to set internal policies and procedures

02:56on how to handle transitions, gender transitions, that is,

02:59and how to support transitioning employees, that's a quote.

03:02She banned agencies from assessing salary histories

03:05before hiring because it could exacerbate

03:07preexisting inequality.

03:10So let me just ask you,

03:13are you gonna unwind all of that nonsense

03:16that the American people got a good hard look at

03:18in November, I might add, and said an emphatic no to,

03:21no to the trans ideology,

03:23no to men in women's locker rooms,

03:26no to critical race theory and calling this country

03:29a racist country that's systemically evil

03:32and ruined and terrible.

03:33Are you gonna put a stop to that in OPM

03:34and get OPM focused back again on its core mission?

03:37Yeah, Mr. Senator, I wanna make sure that we focus on

03:39how do we create a great workforce

03:41that is responsive to the needs of the people

03:43and that does so in a way that's efficient.

03:45As you well know, of course,

03:46the president has already issued executive orders

03:48with respect to the DEI departments in government,

03:51and we will fully comply with those.

03:52Fantastic, you'll vigorously enforce those,

03:54I would assume, Mr. Peter.

03:55Yes, Senator.

03:56Yes, very good.

03:57Mr. Ulan, it's nice to see you again,

03:58and I've enjoyed working with you over the years.

04:01Congratulations on this nomination.

04:04Thanks for being willing to do it.

04:05And the committee has just a tremendous letter

04:09in your support from the Susan B. Anthony list

04:11and the National Right to Life Committee

04:13talking about your longstanding commitment

04:16to the pro-life cause, to the basic principle

04:18that every child born in this country

04:21deserves to be treated with equality and fairness,

04:22welcomed and protected.

04:24And it's a tremendous letter.

04:26It's great to see a member of the administration

04:29get this kind of support from the pro-life community.

04:31If this has not already been entered into the record,

04:33Mr. Chairman, I'd ask unanimous consent to do so.

04:35Without objection.

04:37Mr. Ulan, let me just, in the remaining moments here,

04:40let me just give you an opportunity

04:41to talk about what your priorities will be,

04:43and let me say, again,

04:44congratulations to you on this nomination.

04:46Go ahead.

04:47Thank you very much, Senator.

04:48I really appreciate that.

04:50Very quickly, obviously, to serve with honor and dignity

04:54and effectuate the president's agenda

04:57in terms of the DDM specifically,

04:59make sure that what we're doing

05:00to protect our cybersecurity,

05:03the information of taxpayers and employees

05:06is advocated and ensured.

05:12See what we can do with newer technology

05:15and ways to help downsize,

05:17rescope, and reorient the federal government

05:20as the president has directed,

05:21and ultimately serve at the pleasure

05:23of the director and the deputy director

05:24for any other duties that might be assigned to me.

05:27Very good.

05:28Congratulations to you both.

05:29Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

05:30Thank you, Senator.

05:31Senator Slotkin.

'Are You Going To Put A Stop To That?': Hawley Presses Top Trump Nominee To Purge DEI From Agency

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