State Department ‘censorship’ office finds lifeline in 1,500 page spending bill
By
Gabe Kaminsky
December 18, 2024 12:59 pm
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A State Department-housed office that conservatives say funded an unconstitutional “censorship scheme” would receive a one-year extension under a provision in a 1,547-page spending bill to prevent a government shutdown.
The bill text, which was released on Tuesday before the House and Senate adjourn for Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s holidays, includes a provision that would reauthorize the State Department’s Global Engagement Center. Founded in 2016, the GEC has come under immense public and congressional scrutiny following reports from the Washington Examiner on it granting taxpayer dollars to the Global Disinformation Index and other outside groups working to suppress right-leaning voices online.
The reversal is significant, since the State Department sent a notification to Congress earlier this month that it had planned to soon terminate the GEC after losing support from Republicans. The GEC, which had an eight-year mandate in 2016 and requires funding to reauthorize, was at the center of investigations in the House Judiciary Committee and House Small Business Committee. There, Republicans issued subpoenas and accused the GEC of orchestrating a speech suppression campaign against conservatives alongside left-wing nonprofit groups and social media companies.
Moreover, the reversal has struck a nerve with conservative Republicans, who view the provision being slipped into the bill text by congressional leaders as a “stunning betrayal,” in the words of one senior Republican aide who was involved with the investigations into the GEC.
more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/3263812/state-department-censorship-lifeline-spending-bill/
