Pete Hegseth axes Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, citing divisive agenda

The Department of War on Tuesday announced Secretary Pete Hegseth has decided to terminate the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), a civilian advisory group that provides recommendations on policies affecting women in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Department of War press secretary Kingsley Wilson made the announcement on X, calling the committee “divisive.”

“The Committee is focused on advancing a divisive feminist agenda that hurts combat readiness, while Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has focused on advancing uniform, sex-neutral standards across the Department,” Wilson wrote in the post.

The DACOWITS website notes it focuses on recruitment, retention, employment, integration, well-being and treatment of service women.

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Committee members gather data through briefings, written responses, expert input and direct interactions with service member focus groups during installation visits.

While 17.7% of U.S. military service members are women, the Department of War’s 2023 demographics report called for the Marine Corps to fully integrate recruit training at the platoon level and to use mixed-gender drill instructor teams.

The report also suggested adopting new gender and race-sensitive body composition standards and reviewing the last 10 years of promotion data by gender and race.

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As one of the oldest War Department advisory committees, the DACOWITS claims its recommendations have “historically been instrumental in effecting changes to laws and policies pertaining to military women,” according to the site.

Other less controversial recommendations in the committee’s 2023 report included ensuring the timely distribution of female-specific aviation safety gear, standardizing maternity leave, updating maternity uniforms for function and professionalism and distinguishing between sexual harassment and gender-based discriminatory harassment.

Since 1951, the committee said it has submitted more than 1,100 recommendations to the Secretary of War, with about 94% full or partial adoption by the department, as of 2025.

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The Bush administration in 2002 scaled back the DACOWITS, with officials more than two decades ago claiming the panel ran rampant and promoted gender quotas.

“Its agenda — which promotes gender quotas, women in combat roles, and gender-integrated basic training — weakens the basic purpose of the military: to fight and win wars,” Nancy M. Pfotenhauer, president at the time of the Independent Women’s Forum, wrote in a 2002 statement.

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The Department of War did not immediately provide additional comment to Fox News Digital.