Before the Biden administration suspended the Disinformation Management Council, 18 Republican senators called for its defunding.
Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) was joined by U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and 16 other Republican colleagues at joint letter expressing his opposition to the anti-free speech commission to the Department of Homeland Security.
They urged the 2023 appropriations bill to prohibit any funding for the board.
“The federal government should never be in the business of regulating speech or being the arbiter of truth,” adding: “This is the latest attempt to enter a slippery slope that should be rejected.”
Lawmakers expressed concern that the disinformation commission was jeopardizing Americans’ First Amendment rights, stating that “there is a fine line between combating disinformation and government censorship.”
(*18*) doubted the council’s promise to “protect privacy, civil rights and civil liberties,” while criticizing the council’s lack of transparency.
“The board currently lacks any guidelines, mission statement or bylaws,” adding that “they also said the board had existed for several months “without a single documented meeting.”
The senators include: Sens. Johnson and Rob Portman. (*18*) Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jim Risch (Idaho), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined the letter. , Todd Young (R-Ind.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) .), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), John Kennedy (R-La.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Mitta Romney (Utah).
