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Hegseth softens stance on women in combat, calls for policies already in place

In his public bid to become the next defense secretary, former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth told a Senate panel on Tuesday that he supports women serving in combat roles so long as they meet the same standards as men -- an approach the military says has been in place for nearly a decade.

Hegseth's testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee follows weeks of his trying to salvage his nomination to the top Pentagon job while facing allegations of heavy drinking, financial mismanagement of a veteran nonprofit and sexual assault. Hegseth denies the allegations, blaming a media "smear campaign."

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, testifies before a Senate Committee on Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 14, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, testifies before a Senate Committee on Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 14, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
 

His past statements insisting women should be kept from combat roles has drawn scrutiny as well, including from Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., both combat veterans. On Tuesday, he significantly softened his stance, saying he would allow women to continue to serve so long as an internal review finds they are meeting the same benchmarks as men.

"Every service member, regardless of gender, who can meet objective occupational and readiness standards for a career field should have the opportunity to compete for jobs in that field," Hegseth told the panel Tuesday.

"In those ground combat roles, what is true is that the weight of the ruck on your back doesn't change, the weight of the 155 round that you have to carry doesn't change, the weight of the 240 Bravo machine gun you might have to carry doesn't change. And so, whether it's a man or a woman, they have to meet the same high standards," he added.

"In any place where those things have been eroded or in courses criteria have been changed in order to meet quotas -- racial quotas or gender quotas, that is putting a focus on something other than readiness standards, meritocracy and lethality," he said. "So that's the kind of review I'm talking about, not whether women have access to ground combat."

That approach, though, is nothing new, a defense official said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It is long-standing Department policy that anyone who can meet operationally relevant and gender-neutral standards, regardless of gender, should have the opportunity to serve in any position. The standards for military service have not been lowered," the official said in an emailed statement.

"The Military Services continue to apply operationally relevant and objective standards for all career fields to ensure that decisions are based on ability, not gender. Combat and specialized units uphold strict and rigorous criteria to ensure only qualified individuals are selected, regardless of gender," the person added.

Ash Carter, who was defense secretary in 2016 when the military opened certain high-intensity combat jobs to women, including the special operations forces, said at the time that he was clear the military services must keep their standards the same for everyone.

"This means that as long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before. They'll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars, and lead infantry soldiers into combat," Carter said in announcing the new policy.

Since then, the services have at times lowered their standards for who can be recruited into the broader military, citing slumping recruitment levels overall. These standards can include allowing recruits who are older or with lower education achievements, for example, but are applied equally across men and women.

The military also doesn't allow racial or gender quotas, officials said. The Pentagon has a merit-based system when it comes to serving in specific roles, although some uniformed officials have pushed in recent years for setting demographic goals during recruitment to encourage more Americans to consider military service.

Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown, the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified in 2023 that he advocated setting recruitment goals to increase military participation among certain groups. He argued the military's population should try to mirror demographics among Americans. Republicans have criticized the approach as a kind of racial quota -- a characterization he rejected.

Hegseth's comments Tuesdays on allowing women in combat roles are at odds with his past statements, including as recently as November.

"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 a podcast last November.

He noted at the time he would "theoretically" support women in these jobs if the standards were the same. But he added, "That would never happen, so we should keep them out."

 

Sen. Joni Ernst questions U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, Jan. 14, 2025, in Washington. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Sen. Joni Ernst questions U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, Jan. 14, 2025, in Washington. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
 
 

In his book released last year, Hegseth also said: "Dads take risks. Moms put the training wheels on our bikes. We need moms. But not in the military, especially in combat units."

On Tuesday, Hegseth repeatedly called for a return to the same merit-based system the Pentagon said it already has in place. At times, his responses appeared carefully scripted.

"I respect every single female service member that has put on the uniform, past and present," he said at one point, responding under heated questioning by New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat.

Assuming all Democrats oppose his nomination, which appears likely, Hegseth can only afford to lose one Republican vote on the Senate Armed Services Committee and still survive the confirmation process.

Ernst appeared to be persuaded Tuesday by Hegseth's testimony, as did other Republicans. Democrats said they still weren't convinced, with Duckworth suggesting the Senate would have to lower its standards to confirm him.

Gillibrand told Hegseth that if he gets the job, "you will have to change how you see women … and I don't know that you're capable of that."

ABC News' Matt Seyler and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.

 

Author: Editors Desk

Source: ABC GMA

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