Hegseth ‘proud’ to end Women, Peace and Security program

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday declared he had begun to shutter a Pentagon program meant to advance women’s participation in peace-building and conflict prevention, a law written by GOP lawmakers that President Trump signed in his first term.

“This morning, I proudly ENDED the “Women, Peace & Security” (WPS) program inside the [Defense Department],” Hegseth wrote in a post on X.

He said the program was “yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops — distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING.” 

Hegseth also called WPS a “UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists,” claiming that “troops HATE it.”

As the program is under federal statute and can’t be outright killed by Hegseth alone, he said the Pentagon would comply with the minimum requirements of the WPS and fight to end the program during DOD’s next appropriations process.

Hegseth’s move to dismantle the program is particularly notable given that Trump signed the program into law in 2017, after it was backed by multiple members of his current Cabinet while they were members of Congress.

The 2017 Women, Peace and Security Act was penned by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, then a member of the House representing South Dakota, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). The Senate’s version of the law was co-sponsored by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then a Florida senator. 

Rubio on April 1 had lauded the Women, Peace and Security Act, saying it was “the first law passed by any country in the world focused on protecting women and promoting their participation in society.”

The law ​​was intended to promote the participation of women in all aspects of overseas conflict prevention, management and resolution, as well as post-conflict relief and recovery efforts, to be implemented at the State Department, Pentagon and other government agencies.

The Biden administration later issued several action plan memos for how the Pentagon would implement the program in the building, including most recently in December. 

Hegseth later pushed back on those who had pointed out the law had been signed under Trump, claiming the Biden administration had  “distorted & weaponized the straight-forward & security-focused WPS initiative launched in 2017,” though he did not provide examples.