Even a supposed federal government watchdog has gone radically woke, prompting harsh criticism from conservatives.
A leaked October 2022 memo from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) — which examines government spending and is considered the supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States — was obtained by The Daily Mail and reveals the GAO barring employees from using terms for male and female. The memo was posted on the GAO intranet.
“Because meaning and connotations can change rapidly, we should not rely solely on precedent (GAO or otherwise) but should consider consulting early in an engagement with individuals and groups who are within scope of the work,” the four-page memo states, offering “common alternatives to gendered terms” such as “artificial” instead of “man-made,” “crewed” as opposed to “manned,” and “workforce” as opposed to “manpower.”
“When it is necessary to refer to sex or gender identity, be aware of the distinction and avoid equating the two,” the memo advises. “Sex is a classification of people into categories such as male, female or intersex on the basis of biological characteristics. Gender identity is a person’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both, or neither. Gender identity may align with the sex a person was assigned at birth (cisgender), another sex (transgender), or neither.
“When it is necessary to use binary terminology, avoid implying that all people identify with the sex or gender binaries or that all people share the biological characteristics of their assigned sex,” the memo commands.
The GAO is an agency within the legislative branch of the government, but its chief — the comptroller general — is appointed by the president.
“This is the latest woke madness from the Orwellian Biden administration and this is an illustration of a presidency that has gone completely insane,” blasted Nile Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation, calling the attempt to alter language “truly sinister, nefarious, and dangerous” and adding, “Dictating what language can and cannot be used is not what a free country is all about.”
“If Biden and the radical leftists in his administration focused on the real problems facing America — forty-year high inflation, out of control crime, open borders, and a flood of deadly drugs — instead of forcing a woke ideology down our throats, our country would be in a far better position to tackle the problems he has exacerbated,” Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson snapped.
“The Biden administration is working overtime to radically transform America and destroy what was common sense just a few years ago,” Tennessee GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn charged.