Happy New Year 2025

Tag: DOD

  • DoD creates task force to abolish DEI offices that ‘promote systemic racism’

    DoD creates task force to abolish DEI offices that ‘promote systemic racism’

    DEI is about to die at the DoD.

    Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth zeroed in on the controversial programs, releasing a memorandum on Wednesday stating that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is incompatible with Department of Defense (DoD) values, and created a task force to address the abolition of the program.

    Further, it outlined how the department will restore America’s fighting force – citing promotion and selection reform; elimination of quotas; and prohibition of Critical Race Theory, gender ideology, and DEI.

    In an executive order issued Monday, “Restoring America’s Fighting Force,” President Donald Trump prohibited any preference or disadvantage for an individual or group within the Armed Forces on the basis of sex, race or ethnicity. 

    Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s choice to be Defense secretary, at the completion of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

    DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH SAYS ‘NO MORE DEI AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE’: ‘NO EXCEPTIONS’

    The memorandum – for senior pentagon leadership, commanders, and DoD field activity directors – noted the DoD will strive to provide merit-based, color-blind, equal opportunities for service members, but will not guarantee or strive for equal outcomes.

    All decisions related to hiring, promotion, and selection of personnel for assignments will be based on merit, the needs of the department, and the individual’s desires, according to the memo.

    Officials created a “Restoring America’s Fighting Force” Task Force to oversee the department’s efforts to abolish DEI offices, boards, councils and working groups.

    Department of Defense

    The seal of the Department of Defense is seen on the podium at the Pentagon, Sept. 27, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY

    It will also eliminate any “vestiges of such offices that subvert meritocracy, perpetuate unconstitutional discrimination, and promote radical ideologies related to systemic racism and gender fluidity.”

    Officials also nixed any programs, elements or initiatives that were established to promote “diverse concepts,” according to the memo. 

    Moving forward, officials said the DoD will not consider sex, race or ethnicity when considering individuals for promotion, command or special duty.

    The department will also eliminate quotas, objectives and goals that are based on those characteristics.

    Midshipmen salute

    Midshipmen render a salute during the commissioning and graduation ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, U.S., May 24, 2024.

    U.S. Service Academies and other defense academic institutions will “teach that America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history,” according to the memo.

    Fox News Digital requested comment from the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, but did not immediately receive a response.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    An initial report on progress will be provided to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USDP&R) by March 1, and a final report by June 1.

    Alexandra Koch is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Prior to joining Fox News, Alexandra covered breaking news, crime, religion, and the military in the southeast.

  • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vows to shutter DEI at DOD

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vows to shutter DEI at DOD

    The Department of Defense (DoD) is the latest agency that is disbanding all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs following President Donald Trump’s executive order terminating all federal DEI programs.

    “The President’s guidance (lawful orders) is clear: No more DEI at Dept. of Defense,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a post on X.

    In a handwritten note shared along with the post on X, Hegseth wrote: “The Pentagon will comply, immediately. No exceptions, name-changes, or delays.”

    Hegseth added that “those who do not comply will no longer work here.” 

    WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY

    Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., echoed Hegseth, writing: “The best way to stop discriminating against people on the basis of race or gender is to stop discriminating against people on the basis of race or gender,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X. “Let DEI die.” 

    Hegseth, 44, was sworn in on Saturday morning after he secured his confirmation to lead the Pentagon on Friday after weeks of intense political drama surrounding his nomination and public scrutiny into his personal life. 

    “All praise and glory to God. His will be done and we’re grateful to be here,” Hegseth said after taking the oath of office, surrounded by his wife and children.

    Hegseth is a former Minnesota National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and a former Fox News host. 

    Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, announced he is ending all DEI programs and policies at the Pentagon. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

    Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed up by Elon Musk, reported that approximately $420 million in current/impending contracts, mainly focused on DEI initiatives, had also been canceled. 

    On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order that forced all DEI offices to close and placed all government workers in those offices on paid leave.

    TRUMP’S FEDERAL DEI PURGE PUTS HUNDREDS ON LEAVE, NIXES $420M IN CONTRACTS

    Pete Hegseth swearing in

    Pete Hegseth is surrounded by his wife and his seven children as he is sworn in as the new Secretary of Defense by Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, DC, on Jan. 25, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP)

    Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Charles Ezell sent a memo to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies directing them that by the end of business on Jan. 22, they were to inform all agency employees of the DEI shutdown. In addition, they were instructed to tell workers directly involved in DEI to take down all DEI-related websites and social media accounts, cancel any related contracts or training, and ask employees to report any efforts to disguise DEI programs by using coded or imprecise language.

    The memo also directed the heads of agencies and departments that by noon on Jan. 23, they were to provide OPM with lists of all DEI offices, employees, and related contracts in effect as of Nov. 5, 2024.

    By Friday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m., agency heads were required to submit to OPM a written plan for executing a reduction-in-force action regarding DEI employees and a list of all contract descriptions or personnel position descriptions that were changed since Nov. 5, 2024, to obscure their connection to DEI programs.

    The president also signed an order making it “the official policy of the U.S. government to only recognize two genders: male and female.”

    3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS

    Donald Trump in a split image with an activist advocating for transgender rights

    President Trump targeted gender identity and diversity in executive orders. (Getty Images/AP)

    Trump issued two other executive actions targeting DEI — an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and higher education through race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of DEI and a memo to eliminate a Biden administration policy that prioritized DEI hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration.

    In his executive order, Trump wrote that he sought to protect Americans from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. He said these civil-rights protections “serve as a bedrock supporting equality of opportunity for all Americans” and that he “has a solemn duty to ensure that these laws are enforced for the benefit of all Americans.”

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    “Yet today, roughly 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, critical and influential institutions of American society, including the Federal Government, major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies, and institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation,” the order reads.

    It adds that these “illegal DEI and DEIA policies also threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society, including all levels of government, and the medical, aviation, and law-enforcement communities.

    Prior to Trump’s order, the FBI closed its DEI office in December. 

    Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Brie Stimson, Michael Dorgan and Landon Mion contributed to this report. 

    Stepheny Price is writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected]