Sen. Josh Hawley led the failed attempt to defeat Kiran Ahuja’s nomination as head of the Office of Personnel Management, warning on Tuesday that she will bring a “new era of racial engineering” in federal government, the National Review reported.
The Missouri Republican said on the Senate floor that he is worried that Ahuja is a disciple of radical critical theorists,” pointing out that she has “frequently promoted” Ibram X. Kendi, an advocate for critical race theory and that she wrote last year that “we must free the nation from the daily trials of white supremacy.”
He stressed that Ahuja “could use her platform to promote radical ideologies to divide rather than unite the American people,” adding that “she could bring critical race theory back into federal government training into every level of federal personnel stronger than ever.
Critical race theory is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as the concept in which race is a socially constructed category ingrained in American law intended to maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites. It holds that the U.S. society is inherently or systemically racist.
Hawley led a successful Republican attempt in April to delay her confirmation process, citing concerns over her stance on abortion rights, as well as critical race theory, according to the National Review.
The White House has defended Ahuja as “a qualified, experienced, and dedicated public servant who we are looking forward to leading the Office of Personnel Management… and building a federal workforce that looks like America.”
The role of the Office of Personnel Management is to create human resources initiatives and personnel policy for federal employees.
President Joe Biden issued an executive order in his first days after inauguration to reinstate diversity and racial sensitivity training, doing away with a policy from the Trump administration that banned training on critical race theory, white privilege, and other “divisive” topics.
On Tuesday, Hawley emphasized that “The advocates of critical theory tell us we have to dismantle our culture, our history, our families, our Jewish and Christian heritage and beliefs because they’re all oppressive. They say the future of this nation will be defined by racial division and racial strife. Mr. President, I reject that prophecy of our future and I take my stand on the goodness of the American people and the God who guides us.”
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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