Since the earliest days of the Biden administration, Republicans and conservatives in Congress have accused the White House of increasingly imposing ‘woke’ left-wing cultural ideology on the U.S. military, which in turn has led to a sharp decline in enlistments.

But instead of reversing course, the politically correct brass in place at the Pentagon appear to be doubling down.

“Struggling to meet their recruiting goals for fiscal year 2023, U.S. Naval leadership has found whom they believe to be the perfect person to increase the branch’s ranks: Drag Queen Harpy Daniels,” The Federalist reported.

The Daily Caller added that the Navy hired Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, an active-duty drag queen who identifies as non-binary and performs under the stage name Harpy Daniels, to be a “Navy Digital Ambassador” to increase recruitment for the branch. The Digital Ambassador program was launched to reach a wider range of potential candidates for military recruitment through digital platforms, as per a Navy spokesperson. The program reportedly ran from October 2022 to March 2023.

Kelley had announced on Instagram in November that the Navy had invited him to be their first “Digital Ambassador,” and highlighted his experience performing in drag for the Navy since 2018, while also presenting himself as an “advocate” and “leader” for individuals who were allegedly “oppressed for years in the service.”

“From joining to 2016 and being able to share my drag experience on my off time with my fellow sailors has been a blessing,” Kelley wrote. “This experience has brought me so much strength, courage and ambition to continue being an advocate and representation of queer sailors!”

According to a Navy official who spoke with The Daily Caller, the Digital Ambassador program “concluded in April, and the Navy is now evaluating the program to consider what form it will take in the future.”

The Navy’s decision to employ a drag queen as a “digital ambassador” coincides with the branch’s anticipated inability to meet its recruitment goals for the fiscal year 2023.

The Military Times reported last month that the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force anticipate recruitment shortfalls in the “thousands” this year. The Navy is expected to miss its target by around 6,000 recruits, while the Army and Air Force are projected to miss their goals by 10,000 and 3,400, respectively.

After President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, the Defense Department started promoting the adoption of “DEI” ideology, which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, critics argue that the ideology is divisive and detrimental, as it dismisses merit and discriminates based on characteristics such as race and sexual orientation.

Even if an individual is qualified for a certain position based on their merits, they may be passed over in favor of someone who meets the preferred identitarian standards of being more “diverse,” according to DEI critics.

In May 2021, the then-Acting Secretary of the Navy, Thomas Harker, issued a memo detailing an action plan to advance DEI within the Navy, The Federalist reported further. The document ordered the Navy’s assistant secretary and chief diversity officer to “lead and oversee all DEI efforts across the Department to synchronize key policies and initiatives … and to develop a strategy to advance DEI across the enterprise.”

The report added: “The Defense Department’s embrace of DEI ideology continues to permeate the military. As Helen Raleigh reported in The Federalist last June, the Navy released an instructional video advising service members to create a ‘safe space’ by using ‘correct’ pronouns.”