The war over ‘woke’: Republicans gear up to take aim at controversial Pentagon social policies

Top officials at the Pentagon insist they’ve seen no impact from so-called “woke” social policies inside the U.S. military.

But public confidence in the military has plunged in recent years, with polls showing that 50% of Americans cite those practices as one of the main reasons for their diminished opinion about the armed forces. Republican lawmakers say they’ve heard from scores of service members who claim the Pentagon‘s growing focus on liberal social policies is distracting from the military‘s larger mission.

Those dueling worldviews will be thrust into the spotlight when Republicans take control of the House in January,...