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At a time when multiple regional crises are threatening to spiral out of control, Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary is preparing to target diversity and equity initiatives in the military that he believes have left the force less prepared and less lethal. 

In recent years, the Pentagon has faced scrutiny over Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or DEI, initiatives as well as instances of gender and race ideology being espoused or supported by service members. 

Pete Hegseth, if confirmed, appears poised to target years of DEI initiatives that have been ingrained in Pentagon leadership. 

“The dumbest phrase on planet Earth in the military is ‘our diversity is our strength,’” Hegseth summed up his view in a recent appearance on “The Shawn Ryan Show,” podcast, and specifically pinpointed a turning point in the Obama administration. 

“You saw the trans stuff come in at the end,” Hegseth said. “You saw the women in combat…Because they looked around at the bureaucracies that they controlled in Washington, and the one that they didn’t control – Obama spent a disproportionate amount of time focusing on the Pentagon. They were skeptical of leadership and eventually brought in political appointees and generals who would do their bidding the way they wanted.”

Hegseth explained this changed the entire “ethos” of the organization. 

Adopting DEI initiatives

“The Army that I enlisted in, or the Army I swore an oath to in 2001, and was commissioned in 2003, looks a lot different than the Army of today because we are focused [now] on a lot of the wrong things,” he said. 

Hegeseth identified current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, CQ Brown, as an example of how career military officials have adopted DEI initiates wholesale. In fall 2020, when Brown was still the Chief of Staff for the Air Force, he highlighted diversity as a key factor in promotions and recruiting. 

He also oversaw the establishment of a diversity office in the Air Force and the branch’s inspector general conducted a “Racial Disparity Review” of the workforce. 

This reputation elicited anxiety among senior Defense Department officials that the incoming president and his new Secretary of Defense would move to dismiss Brown before his term as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs officially expires. This would mark an about face for Trump, who originally nominated Brown to lead the Air Force in 2020. 

Critics say the focus on DEI at the Pentagon has undermined the world’s premier fighting force, weakening it at a time when it may be needed more than ever. 

“[It’s] engineering the leadership of the Pentagon, really, as far back as the 1960s has been trying to engineer the racial composition of the United States military, and that’s come at a cost for professional standards,” William Thibeau of The American Military Project at the Claremont Institute told the John Solomon Reports podcast. 

“We just found army internal data earlier this year that indicated the proportion of white recruits is that its lowest ever. The issue is, is that more diverse populations in America have not joined at an increasing share,” Thibeau said. “So what you have is a generational crisis of strength at a time when the U.S. military might be asked to fight three wars in the Middle East, Europe and the Pacific at one time, and we don’t have the people to fight or deter even one of those conflicts.” 

Though initial efforts at affirmative action the military in the wake of the Civil Rights Act began in the 1960s, modern DEI initiatives were justified by the final report of the Army Diversity Task force. 

This 2008 report, finalized in the waning George W. Bush administration, laid out the reasons why diversity must be prioritized in the military ranks. It argued that diversifying the ranks would lead to more talent acquisition, reduce racial tensions, and would better equip the force to represent the nation, according to Thibeau. 

“Diversity”

Most recently, the DOD’s Strategic Management Plan for Fiscal Years 2022–2026, promulgated by Biden-appointed Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks, explicitly calls for DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility) to be prioritized throughout the department. 

The report outlined efforts over several years by the Pentagon “institutionalize DEI” based on recommendations generated from departmental reviews. The goal of these efforts were explicitly defined: “This will help institutionalize the advancement of DEIA and the value of diversity to the Department’s mission.” 

Thibeau believes cutting back on the top heavy bureaucracy and specifically removing DEI in recruiting and promotion decisions will go a long way to restoring the military. He says the Joint Chiefs, now headed by Brown, should be the target of cuts. 

“The Joint Staff, those six or so generals and admirals, are meant to provide advice and consent to the President. They’re not supposed to be decision makers, but they’re a 4,000 person bureaucracy in the Pentagon, almost immune to accountability,” he said. “Let’s get them out of the decision making process, especially when it comes to what software, what what submarines, we buy. And then let’s empower the war fighting commands to buy and procure things.” 

Thibeau also said removing military leaders that promoted “race quotas” and diversity initiatives should be prioritized. 

“I think the Trump administration, the Hegseth Pentagon, should ask serious questions if generals and admirals who implemented those policies can continue to lead in good faith, because it’s not just a question of following political orders, it is a question of embodying the principles of DEI as an ideology that became part of these officers mandate in uniform,” he said.