House Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), have once again blocked the Pentagon from funneling taxpayer dollars to fund entities that censor news outlets not aligned with leftist dogma.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 with a vote of 281-140. For the second year in a row, the legislation includes language that prohibits the Department of Defense from entering into taxpayer-funded contracts with organizations like NewsGuard that seek to censor news outlets. The House passed an earlier version of the bill but faced delays due to negotiations with Senate Democrats.
ICYMI: House Puts NewsGuard, Ad Fontes on Notice with NDAA … Once Again
In a press statement reviewed by the Media Research Center, Speaker Johnson emphasized the urgent need to shift the Pentagon's focus “on military lethality, not radical woke ideology.” The Speaker added, “This legislation permanently bans transgender treatment for minors, prohibits critical race theory in military academies, ends the DEI bureaucracy, and combats antisemitism.”
The bill’s passage marks at least the third occasion in which Speaker Johnson has showcased his affinity to protect Americans’ First Amendment liberties and to battle biased media ratings firms that unfairly target certain news outlets while shielding leftist sources from the same scrutiny.
For instance, MRC Free Speech America has repeatedly demonstrated how NewsGuard awards leftist outlets with highly favorable ratings while punishing those deemed right-leaning, across three studies. Numerous advertising companies rely on these biased ratings to determine where to run their ads, effectively harming some outlets’ ad revenue.
EVEN WORSE! MRC Exposes NewsGuard for Leftist Bias Third Year in a Row
The Pentagon controversially granted NewsGuard a generous $750,000 payment for access to the firm’s data, which the federal agency potentially used to determine which outlets could run their recruitment ads.
Enter Speaker Johnson and Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA).
In 2023, McCormick introduced a powerful and effective amendment to the 2024 NDAA, which prohibited the Pentagon from using taxpayer funds for new contracts with biased media ratings firms like NewsGuard. The amendment became law in December of that same year. This amendment passed the House earlier this year and was renewed on Wednesday.
Flashback: Not So Fast: Biden Signs NDAA Calling Out NewsGuard … Then Issues Disclaimer
In an exclusive interview with MRC Free Speech America last year, McCormick highlighted the importance of his amendment: “Including my amendment in the NDAA is something we can do right now, this year, to address the censorship of conservatives. MRC’s own research shows these organizations are heavily biased against conservatives and are the leading edge of the censorship industrial complex. My colleagues Jim Jordan and James Comer have done a wonderful job exposing the incestuous relationship between government and censorship organizations; but it is time to legislate on this issue. My amendment is a real opportunity to tackle this problem this year.”
Related: MRC, Pro-Free Speech Allies Call on Congress to Block NewsGuard Funding in NDAA
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