The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, which has existed since 1951, was hardly a controversial panel in the Pentagon, but Secretary Pete Hegseth decided to end it anyway. Politico reported:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has shuttered a nearly century-old committee created to expand the role of women in the military, part of a broader effort to redefine the image of the armed forces. … Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson, in announcing the latest decision Tuesday on X, said the committee ‘is focused on advancing a divisive feminist agenda that hurts combat readiness.’
For now, let’s put aside questions as to why Donald Trump’s Defense Department sees feminism as “divisive” and how the committee enjoyed support for generations (including Trump’s first term) without affecting readiness.
Let’s instead consider the broader pattern of recent developments.
A couple of months ago, the beleaguered Cabinet secretary used his social media account to amplify a video about a Christian nationalist church that included various pastors saying women should no longer be allowed to vote.
That came on the heels of Hegseth boasting about scrapping the Pentagon’s Women, Peace, and Security program — a program intended to boost women’s role in peace-building and conflict prevention missions — describing it as “woke” and a priority for “feminists.”
He neglected to mention that the program was one of Trump’s accomplishments from his first term, and that the law that created the program was written by prominent Republicans, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, during their congressional tenures. Meanwhile, in July, Hegseth announced that he’d replaced Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, the first woman to lead the U.S. Naval Academy, after he also ousted Adm. Linda Fagan, the former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on NATO’s military committee; Adm. Lisa Franchetti; Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short; and Col. Susannah Meyers. And now, two months later, Hegseth decided to shutter the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, too. The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols recently explained, “At this point, women have been cleared out of all of the military’s top jobs. … Some observers might see a pattern here. Discerning this pattern does not exactly require Columbo-level sleuthing.”
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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