Latest news with #Elfreth
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Congresswoman questions Hegseth about book removals at Naval Academy, other military libraries
Rep. Sarah Elfreth is seeking answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as military libraries face a deadline to remove books and other materials to comply with a Pentagon directive on diversity, equity, and inclusion. In a letter exclusively obtained by The Baltimore Sun, Elfreth, D-Md., writes to Hegseth asking for details from the department on 'targeting books and historical materials that this Administration has ideological disagreements with.' The letter requests more information on a department memorandum, issued earlier this month, that directed military leaders to remove all books focusing on perceived DEI issues by Wednesday. The memo stated that 'promoting divisive concepts and gender ideology are incompatible with the Department's core mission,' according to the AP. Since Hegseth was confirmed as Defense secretary, the department has deleted or removed thousands of historical images, documents, and stories from online archives that contain perceived references to DEI, only for some to be restored after outside complaints. They included an article on the military service of Jackie Robinson — restored after ESPN asked the department about its removal — and images and references to the Enola Gay, the World War II aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The Nimitz Library at the U.S. Naval Academy department removed 381 books in April after Hegseth's office issued directives to evaluate and eliminate works focused on DEI. 'We knew it was bigger than the Naval Academy,' Elfreth told The Sun. 'It's a distraction — of time, energy, resources, capital — towards culture wars and not towards what's actually going to make us ready to defend this country against our adversaries.' The letter lists five questions for the secretary to respond to about the memo. One asks about the formation of the Academic Libraries Committee, the temporary committee that provided a list of search terms for military leaders to target in the book removal. Other questions refer to potential criteria to inform the list of search terms, the department institutions impacted by the memo, the future of the removed books and the costs associated with the removal. More disturbing than the targeting of books, Elfreth's letter states, 'is the lack of explanation, and the contradiction between the books this Administration thinks should be removed and the books that remain, like Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler and The Doctrine of Facism by Benito Mussolini.' Elfreth is a member of the U.S. Armed Services Committee. Seven Armed Services Democrats joined the letter. Hegseth has been weathering a maelstrom of mistakes. It started with the Signalgate incident, when then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz created a group chat of America's highest-ranking officials to discuss military strikes in the Middle East. Hegseth sent sensitive information about the strikes in the chat, which included a journalist whom Waltz had mistakenly added. Additional reporting revealed another chat used to discuss the strikes. Hegseth included his wife in the second chat, marking another security breach. He also fired top Pentagon staffers, alleging they were leaking to the media, while his chief of staff resigned. 'This is what the media does,' Hegseth said at the time. 'They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. It's not going to work with me, because we're changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of war fighters.' He has faced public calls from resignation from his former chief spokesperson, John Ullyot, and Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican. 'In your confirmation hearing, you reiterated the importance of lethality in our fighting forces — how does erasing our history from public display and removing books from military educational institutions serve this goal?' the letter states. 'Time and energy spent attempting to expunge our historical record simply means diverting resources away from critical readiness.' 'Our servicemembers are tested every day physically and mentally, and they have the capacity to critically examine and engage with texts they disagree with,' it continues. _____
Politico
11-03-2025
- Business
- Politico
Republicans join bill to protect workers after DOGE firings
A new bill to address the mass firings of probationary federal workers by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is picking up bipartisan support. First-term Republican Reps. Michael Baumgartner of Washington and Jeff Hurd of Colorado have signed onto legislation that would ensure that recently terminated probationary workers could reclaim the seniority they amassed in their previous positions if later rehired by the government. Their support for the Protect Our Probationary Employees Act — to be formally introduced Tuesday by fellow first term Rep. Sarah Elfreth, Maryland Democrat — marks the latest response from Republicans who are increasingly feeling political pressure to offer some response to DOGE's actions. The DOGE backlash has gotten so difficult for many members back home that the chair of the House GOP campaign operation instructed lawmakers last week not to hold in-person town halls to avoid scrutiny from constituents. 'In the past month, we have seen an unprecedented attack on our federal workforce through the indiscriminate firings of probationary employees,' Elfreth said in a statement. 'These are patriots who serve our country, but instead of being thanked for their service, they were tossed to the curb and told not to let the door hit them on the way out.' Co-sponsors of the legislation include Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Brad Schneider of Illinois and Rep. Darren Soto of Florida. Democratic Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland are planning to introduce companion legislation to Elfreth's bill in the Senate. Federal workers would only benefit from the Protect Our Probationary Employees Act if they were rehired by the federal government in their same positions — but there is some hope among advocates that the courts may compel the administration to do so. After the Trump administration, at DOGE's behest, moved to fire broad swaths of the government workforce in their probationary period, a judge ruled that action was illegal. The judge did not, however, order that the affected employees be reinstated. Separately, the chair of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board board ordered this month that the Trump administration must reinstate thousands of probationary workers terminated by the Department of Agriculture. Still, there is virtually no chance the bill will become law in a Republican governing trifecta.
