Last week, The Gateway Pundit reported on an excerpt from the lawsuit Daily Wire LLC et al v. United States Department of State et al in which it was stated that the Global Engagement Center’s (GEC) statutory authority would expire this month, on December 23rd, and that it is “Defendants’ understanding that reauthorization is unlikely to occur.”
The filing stated that “the Department transmitted a notification to Congress regarding its plan for the forthcoming termination of the GEC and its plan to realign the Center’s staff and funding to other Department offices and bureaus for foreign information manipulation and interference activities in the event that the termination is not extended.” The staff of the controversial bureau would have then been able to potentially seed their authoritarian anti-First Amendment censorship into other bureaus that may or may not already have a facet of censorship embedded within their ranks.
Fear not, however, for our valiant Republican House has come to the rescue! In the Continuing Resolution (CR) introduced by Speaker Mike Johnson last night, there is a section that would extend the Global Engagement Center’s existence.
Sec. 301 of the CR amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 to read “on the date that is 9 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.” Previously, it had read “8 years” but now, with the amendment, the GEC will exist in our bureaucracy for at least one more year.
The GEC, with a staff of approximately 180 employees and a rough budget of $61 million, will continue without any legislated change to their authorities if this is not amended out of the CR, despite suggestions from Senators Chris Murphy and John Cornyn to tighten control of the GEC’s spending and to forbid them from supporting organizations and entities that engage in political activities in the US, as reported by Politico.
Richard Stengel, the Former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs during the Obama administration and a key figure in the establishment of the Global Engagement Center, infamously said that he was the “Chief Propagandist.” During a panel for the Council on Foreign Relations, Stengel said, “I’m not against propaganda. Every country does it. And they have to do it to their own population. And I don’t necessarily think it’s that awful.”
The 1,500 page spending bill extends the Global Engagement Center. Their stated mission: pic.twitter.com/P1ShsnmV4d
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) December 18, 2024
For a breakdown of the GEC and its partners and the influence they have over Constitutional speech among the US electorate, especially through collusion with social media firms, you can read a previous report from The Gateway Pundit and/or listen to former State Dept. employee Mike Benz’s breakdown of the GEC:
Mike Benz explains how the State Department used ISIS as an excuse to implement full surveillance through social media companies:
“In 2014-16 the State Department created this thing called the Global Engagement Center, which was the first censorship capacity of the USG. This… pic.twitter.com/N0gh6HrymP
— Autism Capital (@AutismCapital) December 3, 2024
Several Republican House members have ridiculed the Continuing Resolution, including Rep. Eric Burlison called it “a total dumpster fire,” and Rep. Andy Biggs said it allows Congress to “keep spending money out the wazoo” and has “all kinds of policy issues…to create effectively an omnibus bill.”
The DC Cartel will attempt to ramrod a short-term omnibus through Congress in the form of a continuing resolution.
Members have yet to see the text of the massive spending package.
The House continues to be derelict in its duty to pass a balanced budget. pic.twitter.com/MbYOJoAEpj
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) December 16, 2024
There is still time for Congress to amend the Global Engagement Center extension to either remove the extension or to reel in their ability to support or engage in any form of censorship or collusion to censor within the United States and against US citizens.
