Sen Hawley introduces bill to slash DHS funding of 'liberal propaganda'

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is introducing a bill — called the Ending DHS Funding for Liberal Propaganda Act — that would slash Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant funding from going toward entities that discriminate against conservative viewpoints. 

"The Biden Administration has time and again demonstrated its willingness to weaponize its power against conservatives," Hawley told Fox News Digital. "My bill simply bars Secretary Mayorkas from funneling taxpayer dollars to programs dedicated to targeting this Administration’s political opponents."

According to the bill's text, the legislation would bar taxpayer dollars from going toward the development of "any programming relating to countering narratives or views on political topics, including COVID-19, vaccination, media bias, immigration, and crime."

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Sen. Josh Hawley. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Last year, the Biden administration doled out taxpayer money through an anti-terrorism grant initiative to a university program that has explicitly lumped the Republican Party, as well as Christian and conservative groups, into the same category as the Nazis, according to documents shared exclusively with Fox News Digital at the time.

The Media Research Center (MRC), a conservative watchdog group, obtained documents through Freedom of Information Act requests showing a DHS program meant to fight terrorism is funding a group whose work has explicitly targeted the American political right. The MRC outlined its findings in a report, arguing what the group found warrants criminal prosecution.

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The Department of Homeland Security logo is seen during a news conference in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Another example cited by Hawley includes a grant to the University of Rhode Island's Media Education Lab, funded through the administration's Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program, to create "counter-propaganda" against conservative viewpoints, the Daily Wire reported this month. 

The $700,000 grant was used to address "propaganda and misinformation concerning topics including immigration, racial justice, the coronavirus, and vaccination" and "build on top of concerns about so-called ‘fake news’ and ‘cancel culture.’"

"This is an outrageous use of federal funds and abuse of power," Hawley wrote in a letter to Mayorkas last week. "All these funds should be clawed back by the federal government immediately, and anyone involved in making this grant should be fired."

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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., left, and Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas. (Getty Images)

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a DHS spokesperson said the department "does not profile, target, or discriminate against any individual or organization for exercising their constitutional rights. Our mission is to safeguard the American people and when individual expression is connected to an intent to commit violent acts, we are obligated to take action. We are committed to respecting and protecting Americans’ freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy."

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Fox News' Aaron Kliegman contributed to this report.