State Department Censorship Office Cut From Spending Bill After GOP Pushback

The Global Engagement Center, accused of suppressing conservative voices, is set to close after losing funding in the revised government spending bill.

• The revised short-term spending bill excludes funding for the State Department's Global Engagement Center (GEC), effectively shutting it down by the end of the year.
• The GEC has faced significant criticism from Republicans, who accuse it of funding organizations that suppressed conservative media through advertising blacklists and other measures.
• Conservative leaders, including President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, Elon Musk, and Vivek Ramaswamy, applied pressure to remove the GEC funding provision from the bill.
• The GEC, established in 2016 to combat foreign propaganda, has been accused of overstepping its mandate by collaborating with social media platforms to suppress speech, raising First Amendment concerns.
• The spending bill, which must pass to avoid a government shutdown, now includes funding for disaster relief and farming assistance but omits the GEC's reauthorization.

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