Extracurricular activities and athletics are set to resume at Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools located at Fort Campbell and Fort Knox, following a recent decision by the Department of Defense. The announcement comes after these programs were previously suspended due to the ongoing government shutdown.
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued a statement in response to the decision, saying, “This decision provides welcome relief to the Fort Campbell and Fort Knox schools and their students, student-athletes, parents, and everyone who supports their school programs. I want to thank the Secretary of Defense for creating an exception to allow athletics and extracurricular activities at DoDEA schools to continue. Our servicemembers and their children shouldn’t pay the price for Washington’s failure to fund the government. I’m so grateful they’ll now be able to suit up and get back in the game.”
Senator McConnell also addressed the broader issue of the government shutdown in his statement: “While this is good news, it doesn’t address the real issue. Democrats need to end the shutdown. As I have warned every time Congress faced this threat: no one wins in a shutdown. Shutting down the government is harmful to the country, and it never produces positive outcomes – on policy or politics. And what happened at Fort Campbell and Fort Knox is just one example of the impact it’s having on our constituents.”
Senator McConnell had previously sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth regarding the suspension of extracurricular activities at these military installations’ schools.
