The bill would edit standing law to rescind diversity initiatives
A typically snoozy piece of legislation making its way through Congress carries significant ramifications for individuals of color and transgender people.
The FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act governs military spending and regulations for the U.S., including operations, maintenance, research and education, and other aspects, for all Department of Defense-affiliated programs. The legislation is re-approved annually, often with very slight changes.
According to a document titled “The NDAA Process” published by the Library of Congress,
“Unlike an appropriations bill, the NDAA does not provide budget authority for government activities. Nevertheless, historically it has provided a fairly reliable indicator of congressional sentiment on subsequent appropriations for particular programs.”
This year’s NDAA, as of the version publicly available on Sept. 29 and last voted on by the Senate on Sept. 4 and Sept. 10, makes several changes to existing law and administrative policies with regard to the DoD and its many programs.
The vote on Sept 4 was 83 Senators for, 13 against, and 4 abstaining. That roll call vote had both Colorado Senators vote in favor of the NDAA as currently written.
A proposed amendment that would’ve directed “the Attorney General to make publicly available documents related to Jeffrey Epstein” was tabled on party lines.
All 51 of the Senators who voted to table that specific amendment were Republicans, while some Republicans and all of the Democrats who participated in that roll call vote voted against.
Among those changes are rescissions to currently required regulatory diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Such revisions would be achieved by modifying or repealing multiple standing laws.
These changes include ending the position of the Chief Diversity Officer and removing language that mandates the Secretary of Defense not to discriminate.
More changes include the removal of the allowability and the mandate of providing pronouns information in email signatures, and the removal of race, gender, and other diversity information from overall program statistics.
According to AYODATA, an AI consultancy firm, “Leaving out specific communities from datasets results in a lack of representation embedded within algorithms.”
Stephanie Mikkelson, a global researcher in responsible data, argued in 2021 that datasets that don’t properly examine and record sex and gender dimensions empower direct and indirect harm against women and girls.
She wrote, “An algorithm is only going to capture what it is told to look at, and that it really matters how algorithms are written and to what datasets it has access.” Her article continued, “how an algorithm is only going to capture what it is told to look at and that it really matters how algorithms are written and to what datasets it has access.”
In other words, removing the gender/sex and race information from DoD datasets is a form of erasure that may empower algorithmic bias.
Overall, 5 standing sections of law are repealed, and 4 more are amended to achieve this erasure.
In addition, it mandates coverage for specified fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization, under military health plans such as TRICARE, while also banning transition-related healthcare under TRICARE.
This removal of transgender people’s healthcare while mandating that cis women have interventions to promote their fertility is not a contradiction.
Laura Lovett, a University of Pittsburgh history professor, told The Guardian in March that the rise in pronatalism can be attributed to anxieties about women “working and wielding power outside the home.”
“In the US, interest in pronatalism has historically coincided with growing anxiety over changing gender norms and demographics,” Lovett told the outlet.
As proposed, the 2026 NDAA also bans trans women from sports events and participation for any “athletic program or activity” that the Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, or Military Academy is involved in. It has no such provision banning trans men from sports or participation.
The Metropolitan spoke to Roberto De Mata about whether the potential ending of DEI programs in the DoD would affect the SpaceTech Scholars program. SpaceTech Scholars is a large scholarship and mentorship program within MSU Denver’s Aviation and Aerospace Sciences department.
He stated, “STS does not exist within any funding directly or indirectly related to the DoD.” Continuing, De Mata explained that, “The mentioned NDAA rescinding has not had any impact on the STS program. Our only funding source is directly from the Title V Part A, Developing Hispanic Serving Institution program (DHSI) of the Department of Education.”
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