Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is cutting an initiative enacted by President Donald Trump during his first term.
In a social media post, Hegseth criticized the Women, Peace and Security program, calling it "woke." He added it is "distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING."
"WPS is a UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists. Politicians fawn over it; troops HATE it," he wrote. "DoD will hereby executive the minimum of WPS required by statute, and fight to end the program for our next budget."
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So far, there is no official word on how or when it will end. The WPS initiative was co-sponsored by then-Sen. Marco Rubio, who is now the secretary of state.
Earlier this month, Rubio said he was proud of the Women, Peace and Security Act, stating it protects women. In 2019, President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, also praised the initiative.
"The Trump Administration is committed to advancing women’s equality, seeking to protect the rights of women and girls, and promoting women and youth empowerment programs," said a 2019 document written by the Trump administration. "The WPS Strategy seeks to increase women’s meaningful leadership in political and civic life by helping to ensure they are empowered to lead and contribute, equipped with the necessary skills and support to succeed, and supported to participate through access to opportunities and resources."
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Part of the WPS' goal was to increase women's participation in civic activities, including the military. There are other goals of the program, including empowering women to become leaders in conflict resolution.
Hegseth's decision to cut the Pentagon's participation in the WPS program follows comments he made in late 2024, suggesting that women should not be involved in combat roles.
“I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective. Hasn’t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated,” he said on the Shawn Ryan Show Podcast.
Hegseth added that women should be allowed to serve in non-combat roles in the military.
