That’s why the Republican-led effort to remove language requiring women to register for Selective Service – something the GOP has now accomplished in the House-Senate compromise on the National Defense Authorization Act – has been so important.
Hawley told show host Tony Perkins that removal of what’s become known as “draft our daughters” language in the bill while including a block on military spending on transgender treatments and surgeries are key GOP gains in the Senate version which must now pass the House in a vote scheduled for Wednesday.
The NDAA is Congress’ annual military spending bill. Without it the armed forces aren’t paid or funded.
It’s become a mechanism for conservatives to try and reign in Democrat social initiatives such as paid leave time and travel expenses for service members and spouses based in red states to seek abortion services in blue states and the advance of the transgender agenda.
“Oh, it is real (talk), I mean, particularly as we continue to proliferate the number of conflicts we're involved in," Hawley warned. "You look at what this administration's done, the path they've led us down. We've got conflicts all over the world. They've committed us in resources and troops, all kinds of places. So, the possibility of a draft is a very real thing.”
Severe military recruiting shortfalls have put talk of the draft back in play, Hawley said.
“There's a huge shortfall in retention and recruitment and forcing women to register, compulsory registration, is something that they were looking at to try and stem that tide.”
The possibility of a draft that includes American women will be less if the Republican-led House can agree that it’s not a good thing.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is certainly against it.
“It's bad for the military; it's bad for our daughters – but thankfully, Mike Johnson and the House, we are negotiating that out of it,” Roy said on Washington Watch last week. "My understanding of the current debates and the negotiations of what we’re going to try to bring forward is legislation that would not have that in it.”
“It’s a huge improvement to get out the ‘Draft Our Daughters’ language,” Hawley said.
But that’s not all.
“It is a major win to have language in there that prevents the military healthcare service from spending money on transgender surgeries. I'm concerned that the Biden administration has been spending hundreds of millions of dollars on transgender surgeries through the VA (Veterans Administration), which I don't like at all,” Hawley said.
Rogers won’t embrace ban on 'trans care'
Not all Republicans are opposed to tax dollars spent on transgender treatments and surgeries for military members, veterans and dependents of all ages.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Alabama), the chair of the House Armed Services Committee, this week in an interview with The Hill, criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for including an NDAA provision banning gender-affirming care for minors.
Rogers said he did not oppose the provision’s intention but said it is unnecessary given the Donald Trump will soon take office as president. Including it furthers division in the NDAA which is historically rare as bipartisan legislation.
“My preference would have been that we just let the president, on Jan. 20, deal with these,” Rogers told The Hill, “which he’s already indicated he’s going to do. Typically we get a bipartisan product. It’ll be close.”
Congress has a mandate, too
Like Trump has a mandate from voters to reverse Biden administration policies on the border, the elevation of transgenderism and more, Congress has a mandate to reverse policies that have undermined the military, Hawley said.
With that goal in mind, Hawley this week is meeting with Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, to discuss plans for the military.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do to get our military back to being the most lethal, ready fighting force in the world. That's their job. Their job is not to be a social experiment for the Left. Their job is not to be an anti-family, anti-woman organization.
“Their job is not to be an experiment in transgenderism. It's to protect us, and I know the president understands that.
