Republicans in both the House of Representatives and the Senate are taking decisive steps to challenge a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule proposal that they argue pressures schools to adopt the Biden administration’s LGBTQ policies.
The proposed rule, issued by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, aims to change the interpretation of discrimination on the basis of sex under Title IX in the Education Amendments of 1972. Additionally, it seeks to extend this interpretation to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to include sexual orientation and gender identity. This rule, issued last year, has stirred significant controversy among conservatives and has been the subject of heated debate.
Florida Republican Rep. Scott Franklin, who is leading the effort in the House, expressed his concerns: “While the Biden White House stoops so low as to use school lunch as leverage in a political game to intimidate school systems into adopting their woke agenda, we’ve worked hard in Florida to kick progressive culture wars out of the classroom and keep parents in charge.”
Kansas GOP Sen. Roger Marshall, who is co-sponsoring the Senate resolution, warned that in “Joe Biden’s America public schools must support Democrats’ radical transgender movement or they’re at risk of losing substantial funding.” He stressed that President Biden “is relentless in forcing his misaligned values on the American people and children.”
Republican Texas Rep. Randy Weber emphasized the concern that “the Biden Administration wants to cut lunch funding at schools that refuse to participate” in its “woke gender frenzy.” He added, “Parents who wish to shelter their children from this madness shouldn’t have to worry about whether transgender indoctrination is the price for a school lunch.”
Florida Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis, another original co-sponsor of the resolution, highlighted the importance of school lunch programs for vulnerable children: “This critical program should not be held hostage by the Biden Administration’s continued attempts to force its liberal ideology and a woke agenda down the throats of all Americans.”
The House version of the resolution, led by Rep. Scott Franklin, has already garnered 18 co-sponsors, showcasing broad support from various segments of the Republican party. These co-sponsors represent a spectrum of GOP members, from staunch conservatives to moderate party members.
According to Fox News, “The original cosponsors include Weber and Bilirakis as well as GOP Reps. Doug Lamborn of Colorado; Michael Guest of Mississippi; Bill Posey and Greg Steube of Florida; Brad Finstad of Minnesota; Mary Miller and Mike Bost of Illinois; Andy Ogles of Tennessee; Tracey Mann of Kansas; Nancy Mace and Jeff Duncan of South Carolina; Clay Higgins of Louisiana; John Moolenaar of Michigan; Adrian Smith of Nevada; Roger Williams of Texas; and Jim Banks of Indiana.
