Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s speech before a high-profile gathering of hundreds of the U.S. military’s top brass on Tuesday morning has spurred fear, head-scratching and praise.
Hegseth, over the course of roughly 45 minutes, rolled out 10 directives that seek to dismantle so-called “woke” efforts, raise fitness standards to eliminate “fat” troops and leaders, implement strict grooming standards and impose “male standards” on combat troops.
To those who don’t share his vision, the Pentagon chief’s message was simple: You can leave.
“The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies … but if the words I’m speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” he said.
Trump followed Hegseth on the stage, threatening to fire generals he didn’t like and suggesting the military could use “dangerous” U.S. cities as a “training ground.”
Democrat lawmakers swiftly criticized the event as an unnecessary gathering that set a dangerous precedent that threatens to undermine the Constitution.
Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) called the meeting “an expensive, dangerous dereliction of leadership” by the Trump administration.
“While American forces confront real threats across the globe, Mr. Hegseth and President Trump chose to pull generals and admirals away from their missions to listen to hours of political grievances,” Reed said in a statement.
“Even more troubling was Mr. Hegseth’s ultimatum to America’s senior officers: conform to his political worldview or step aside. That demand is profoundly dangerous. It signals that partisan loyalty matters more than capability, judgment, or service to the Constitution, undermining the principle of a professional, nonpartisan military.”
Mark Cancian, the senior adviser with the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ Defense and Security Department, said he and “many” others were worried that Hegseth’s speech would produce a partisan push on the military, but for now, their concerns were alleviated.
“He talked about a non-partisan military. He talked about, you know, the oath to the Constitution, you know, he said all the right things in that regard. So, yeah, that doesn’t mean that tomorrow we won’t do something different. But this was not that demand for loyalty that I and many other people had worried about at one point,” Cancian said in an interview with The Hill on Tuesday.
During the speech, Hegseth said that physical tests would be a priority for troops, even if it leads to fewer women serving in the armed forces. He also added that the Pentagon’s internal complaint and investigations protocols will be altered so unit leaders aren’t “walking on eggshells.”
“No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complaints, no more [ruined] reputations, no more endless waiting, no more legal limbo, no more sidetracking careers or walking on eggshells,” The DOD chief said.
Hegseth said that sexual harassment and racism are “wrong and illegal,” saying those infractions will be “ruthlessly” enforced, but “telling someone to shave or get a haircut or get a shave or fix their uniform or show up on time or to work hard, that’s exactly the kind of discrimination we want.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), an Air Force veteran, who has criticized the Pentagon chief before, applauded Hegseth’s focus on combat and that “our main goal is to win wars and deter wars,” but admitted that “a lot of this could have been done virtually.”
He also criticized the Trump administration’s “rampant firing of senior leaders whose really their only fault was following the directions of the previous administration.” Since February, Hegseth has carried out the firing of numerous three- and four-star generals and admirals, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. CQ Brown.
Hegseth said part of the reason the top generals and admirals were axed earlier this year is that the culture within the Pentagon needed a shake-up. “My approach has been simple,” he said, “when in doubt, assess the situation, follow your gut and if it’s the best for the military, make a change.”
Hegseth’s demand for all combat troops to meet “male standards” raised alarm among his critics that he was seeking to drive out women from some roles in the military.
“If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it,” the defense secretary told the crowd. “That is not the intent, but it could be the result.”
Amy McGrath, a former fighter pilot and Democratic Senate candidate who was the first woman to fly a combat mission for the Marine Corps, wrote on X that Hegseth “continues to disparage and lie about women in the military.”
“He claimed the military needs to ‘return to the male standard’ in combat jobs (of 1990!), but here’s the truth: there has never been a separate male and female standard. When women entered combat roles, one standard was set, and we’ve been meeting it ever since,” she added.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who served as an officer in the Army National Guard, was supportive of his remarks.
“I think what he was espousing, especially when it comes to standards within combat arms, is something that we as Republicans have been promoting for a very long time,” she told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Cancian, who spent over three decades in the Marine Corps, said that hiking the fitness standard for all service members will “almost certainly” lead to having fewer women in combat units, but it will put any “serious restrictions” on women in non-combat units
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a former Army infantry officer, lauded both Hegseth and Trump’s speeches, saying they outlined a “bright future” for the U.S. military.
“By removing politics, emphasizing fitness standards and combat readiness, our military is refocused on deterring wars and winning them if necessary,” Cotton, who like Tuberville, is on the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote Tuesday on social platform X.
Common Defense, a grassroots veteran organization, in a statement called the event “a shameful and undemocratic political theater that threatens the objectivity of our military and the safety of our troops.”
Others criticized Hegseth for calling on troops to ignore “stupid rules of engagement,” disparaging the set of directives that govern how and when force can be used by the U.S. military — rules that are meant to prevent the indiscriminate killing of civilians among other war crimes.
“We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy,” Hegseth said. “We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement.”
Iraq combat veteran, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), hammered Hegseth for his moves to water down rules of engagement and reduce penalties for hazing.
“The nation’s top defense leader encouraging hazing troops who answered the call to fight and die for us is utterly appalling, especially from someone who should know that American troops have died from hazing,” Duckworth said on Tuesday.
“He also claimed that weakening rules of engagement strengthens our warfighters, when in reality it will simply create more enemies of America and make it more likely those enemies would torture captured American troops,” the Illinois Democrat said while on MSNBC.