Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reportedly plans to upend decades of military support for the Scouting America in retaliation for the iconic organization’s support for gender and racial equality.
NPR reported on Tuesday that Hegseth’s office has prepared a draft memo to Congress that would pull support for Scouting America, once known as the Boy Scouts, for being “detrimental to national security.” Current law compels the Department of Defense to support the scouts unless there is a security risk.
Hegseth’s memo alleges that Scouting America has made the institution “genderless” and too supportive of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys,” Hegseth’s memo alleges. He also argues that the scouts contribute to “gender confusion” and no longer “cultivate masculine values.”
The Scouting America website currently touts diversity as a major goal for the group. It notes that the organization “promotes a culture where each youth, volunteer, and employee feels a sense of belonging and builds communities where every person feels respected and valued.” It also asserts that support for these values sets up young people to “serve as successful members and leaders of our nation’s increasingly diverse communities.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, shown in October.
The Trump administration has attacked racial and gender diversity from Day 1. Trump has implemented policies and rules designed to roll back decades of advances by women, ethnic minorities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
If Hegseth’s wishes become policy, the military would no longer provide logistical and medical support for the Boy Scouts’ National Jamboree in West Virginia. Scout groups would also be prohibited from holding meetings at U.S. military installations—areas that currently host many scouting troops.
Navy Secretary John Phelan, who was appointed by Donald Trump, wrote a memo criticizing the Hegseth plan as “too restrictive.” He noted that many in the military come from a scouting background and that banning scouts from bases could hurt future recruiting efforts.
Hegseth, whom Trump nominated after watching him on Fox News pushing right-wing culture-war issues as a pundit, is a longtime proponent of the ideals of phony masculinity. Hegseth has argued that the military in particular should pursue a “warrior ethos” rather than adhere to domestic and international rules of law.
Hegseth is so devoted to these ideas that he convened a needless in-person meeting of top military leaders in September, pulling them away from their tasks so he could lecture them on embracing his approach.
Video of the speech showed attendees sitting stone-faced as Hegseth harangued them. A current Army general later told the Washington Times, “It was a massive waste of time. … If he ever had us, he lost us.”
Now Hegseth intends to lose the scouts as well.
