Schmitt, the former Missouri attorney general who helped engineer a lawsuit accusing the Biden administration of censoring conservatives with the help of social media platforms, sent the letter to Schumer on Thursday. It zeroed in on the State Department-housed Global Engagement Center, an office Republicans say funded an unconstitutional “censorship scheme” and, more recently, has found itself in the crosshairs of conservative-led scrutiny of a spending bill that includes a provision granting a one-year extension to the GEC.

STATE DEPARTMENT ‘CENSORSHIP’ OFFICE FINDS LIFELINE IN 1,500-PAGE SPENDING BILL

“As we deliberate a path forward, I demand that reauthorization of the Global Engagement Center be excluded from any subsequent piece of legislation for the remainder of the 118th Congress,” Schmitt wrote in the letter to Schumer.

“The American people deserve to know their First Amendment rights are being protected,” the Missouri Republican added. “I will strongly oppose any end-of-year bill that includes reauthorization or funding for the GEC and urge my colleagues to do the same.”

The letter to Schumer comes on the heels of businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, as well as conservative lawmakers, joining ranks with President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance to oppose the continuing resolution. The pressure campaign worked, as Republican congressional leaders were forced to scrap the bill — which must be passed to avoid a government shutdown Saturday.

Schmitt’s plea to Schumer underscores how significant the GEC provision was to conservative Republicans, who, for the last two years, have railed against its funding of the Global Disinformation Index and other groups that have worked to suppress right-leaning voices online.

The GEC was formed in 2016 and authorized for eight years. Until the provision in the 1,500-page bill was introduced, it was expected to shut down in the new year after losing support from lawmakers who investigated it, including those on the House Judiciary and Small Business committees.

The Federalist and the Daily Wire, two conservative media outlets, joined Texas in suing the GEC last year over its funding of the Global Disinformation Index and a company called NewsGuard that purports to track misinformation.

“While the behemoth package put forward included a number of objectionable measures, buried deep within the bill was continued funding for the GEC,” Schmitt wrote in the letter to Schumer.

“Originally established to combat foreign propaganda, the GEC has since mutated into a massive censorship machine designed to suppress narratives that question establishment thinking,” the Missouri Republican wrote to the New York Democrat. “What’s worse is the willingness of federal governments and social media platforms to partner with GEC in these unconstitutional censorship efforts. … The First Amendment is the bedrock of our society, and the federal government should never be funding institutions like the GEC, which seek to undermine such a core constitutional principle. Under no circumstances should taxpayer dollars be funding the GEC, we owe that to the American people.”