Dems Demand Pete Hegseth Halt 'Orwellian Book Purges' In Military Schools

It is "plainly" unconstitutional for Defense Department-run K-12 schools to ban books for political reasons, said 26 lawmakers.

WASHINGTON — More than two dozen House Democrats on Monday demanded that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth immediately reverse course on what they say is an unconstitutional purge of books and learning materials in dozens of K-12 schools run by the military ― an effort aimed at erasing diversity and LGBTQ+ people.

“We write to express our grave concern about the escalating censorship taking place in schools run by the Department of Defense,” reads a letter signed by 26 members of Congress and led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is a constitutional scholar and the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

“We are alarmed by reports that children at DoD schools were prevented from accessing any library books and many learning materials for a week while officials conducted a ‘review’ to identify any books that are related to the mysterious bodies of thought you call ‘discriminatory equity ideology’ or ‘gender ideology,’” they said. “After this week-long review, the nation’s military schools began purging library books and restricting access to books and learning materials that are reportedly undergoing ‘further review.’”

“You are plainly violating the constitutional rights of DoD families,” they added.

Here’s a copy of their letter, which was sent to Hegseth along with Beth Schiavino-Narvaez, director of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), and Darin Selnick, the Defense Department’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness.