Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday announced a new policy aimed at curtailing the weaponization of discrimination complaints within the department.
Officially called "Restoring Good Order and Discipline Through Balanced Accountability," Hegseth said he calls the reform "the no more walking on eggs shells policy."
"Too often at the Defense Department, there are complaints made for certain reasons that can't be verified that end peoples careers, either through EOs [executive orders] or the IG [inspector general]," he said in a Friday morning post on X.
"We need to reform that process completely so commanders can be commanders."
Hegseth signed a Wednesday memorandum directing the secretaries of each military department to conduct a comprehensive review of their Military Equal Opportunity and DOD civilian Equal Employment Opportunity programs to ensure prompt and impartial investigations, fair treatment to all parties involved, and timely and appropriate resolution of allegations of discrimination.
Hegseth said the reform was needed due to some people weaponizing the reporting process.
"The DOD has equal opportunity programs for service members and civilians to report discrimination and harassment. That’s a good thing," he said. "But what’s not good is when these programs are weaponized.
"Some individuals use these programs in bad faith to retaliate against superiors or peers."
Hegseth cited the example of a commander against whom a complaint had been filed anonymously or faces a complaint lacking substantiating evidence.
"Your career is impacted. You can't get promoted. You can't take command. You can't move to a new duty station until you're cleared of the complaint," Hegseth said.
The reform aims to ensure that all individuals are provided with a full and fair opportunity for employment, career advancement and access to programs without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, genetic information or parental status.
"Here’s the goal: Empower leaders to make tough decisions, enforce standards and restore good order and discipline. Otherwise known as 'no more walking on egg shells,'" Hegseth said.
On its website, the Pentagon said plans for personnel and readiness concerning the reform were due to the undersecretary of defense within 45 days.
"We need to reform [the EO] process completely so commanders can be commanders," Hegseth said.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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