Georgia GOP Rep. Andrew Clyde slammed his Republican colleagues in a statement Thursday, exclusively shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation, for allowing continued funding of an agency that censors speech.
The Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) is tasked with flagging “disinformation concerns” on social media platforms to combat mis-, dis- and malinformation (MDM) largely related to elections and the COVID-19 pandemic. Clyde, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, took aim at the 109 House Republicans who voted against his amendment Wednesday evening that would cut CISA’s funding by 25%, he told the DCNF in a statement.
“I’m deeply disappointed that 109 of my Republican colleagues voted against my amendment to cut CISA funding by 25 percent,” Clyde told the DCNF in a statement. “The Biden Administration has dangerously weaponized this agency to collude with Big Tech and other intermediaries to censor Americans’ online speech and interfere in our elections — brazenly violating the First Amendment for nefarious political purposes. The country gave us the majority to save our nation from the Left’s destructive policies that continue to erode our constitutional rights, not continue the status quo and subsidize government abuse.”
“Yet by taking down my amendment, these Republicans shamelessly voted with Democrats to fully fund CISA’s unconstitutional practice of muzzling the American people’s speech. Despite this regrettable outcome, I remain committed to eliminating all forms of taxpayer-funded government-by-proxy censorship,” Clyde added. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: DHS Panel Courted Left-Wing Agents To Aid In ‘Misinformation’ Crackdown)
Wow.
109 House Republicans just voted tonight to fully fund @CISAgov.
To continue Team Biden’s online censorship of their political enemies.
With friends like these, who needs enemies? https://t.co/gvFUbaNuF9
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) September 28, 2023
CISA advanced “switchboards” during the 2020 election to enable state and local election officials to flag “misinformation” to remove from social media platforms. A report released by the House Judiciary Committee in late June suggested that CISA also used private entities for censorship during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Republicans voted with 211 House Democrats to tank Clyde’s amendment to the homeland security appropriations bill, according to the House Clerk.
Congress has until Saturday at 11:59 p.m. to pass all 12 appropriations bills or a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown. The House has passed only one, the veteran affairs spending bill, and is currently working to advance appropriations for homeland security, agriculture, defense and state-foreign operations.
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