Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo on Friday calling for a review of Military Equal Opportunity and DoD civilian Equal Employment Opportunity programs. The secretaries of each military department are required under the memo to assess the programs in place within their own departments.
In a video posted on X announcing the memo, Hegseth said that while it’s ‘a good thing’ that the military has multiple avenues for both service members and civilians to complain about harassment and discrimination, the systems have been ‘weaponized’ and used ‘in bad faith to retaliate against superiors or peers.’
The memo’s official title is ‘Restoring Good Order and Discipline Through Balanced Accountability,’ but Hegseth says he calls it the ‘No More Walking on Eggshells’ policy.
‘So, here’s the goal: empower leaders to make tough decisions, enforce standards, and restore good order and discipline,’ Hegseth said in the video.
The memo directs the secretaries to ensure that complaints that ‘are unsubstantiated by actionable, credible evidence are timely dismissed.’ Additionally, ‘favorable actions,’ such as awards and promotions, involving the alleged offender are to be considered until the complaint is substantiated. Finally, the memo states that those who ‘knowingly submit false complaints’ may face discipline.
The secretaries have 45 days to complete their reviews.
Hegseth is no stranger to controversy and has faced several allegations since being tapped to lead DoD. It is not a stretch to imagine that he might have empathy for those facing false or unsubstantiated allegations.
Prior to his confirmation, Hegseth faced allegations of sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and mismanagement of veterans’ organizations. This included an affidavit by his former sister-in-law in which she alleged that Hegseth was physically abusive to his ex-wife, Samantha ‘Sam’ Hegseth. However, Sam denied the allegations, saying she did not experience physical abuse during her marriage to Hegseth.
Hegseth told lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that he is not a ‘perfect person,’ but asserted that he was the subject of a ‘coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media.’
Additionally, since becoming secretary of defense, Hegseth has been involved in two scandals regarding the encrypted messaging app Signal.
The first scandal occurred when The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a Signal chat in which there were discussions about plans for the U.S. to strike Yemen. While National Security Advisor Mike Waltz took a lot of heat for the situation, Hegseth was not spared from criticism. In the end, the Trump administration insisted that the discussions in the group did not actually involve ‘war plans.’
On Sunday, Hegseth was accused of sharing military information in a Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal attorney. The New York Times reported that people with knowledge of the situation said the information ‘included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen.’
Hegseth told ‘FOX & Friends’ that the allegations were meant to ‘sabotage’ President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Despite an op-ed suggesting that Hegseth could be on the way out, the White House has stood behind him.
‘He is bringing monumental change to the Pentagon, and there’s a lot of people in the city who reject monumental change, and I think, frankly, that’s why we’ve seen a smear campaign against the Secretary of Defense since the moment that President Trump announced his nomination before the United States Senate,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.
Diana Stancy contributed to this report.