Pentagon Issues New Sweeping Order Amid Trump Admin Crackdown on DEI
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The Pentagon has issued its most sweeping directive yet in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's ongoing campaign to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) content from the U.S. military.
In a memo distributed Friday and obtained by the Associated Press, military leaders and commands were ordered to review and pull all library books related to diversity, anti-racism, and gender issues by May 21. The directive characterizes such materials as "promoting divisive concepts and gender ideology," which it says are incompatible with the Department of Defense's core mission.
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth looks on.
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth looks on.
Associated Press
The memo, signed by Timothy Dill, the acting undersecretary for personnel, follows recent book removals from military academies and significantly broadens the effort. It directs all commands to promptly identify and sequester materials that fall under a sweeping list of flagged topics, including affirmative action, critical race theory, gender identity, and white privilege. A temporary Academic Libraries Committee will oversee the process and has already provided a list of search terms to guide the initial identification. While the memo states that further guidance will follow by May 21, it does not clarify the final disposition of the removed books, leaving unanswered whether they will be stored or destroyed.
The Pentagon's move comes on the heels of a purge last month at the U.S. Naval Academy, where nearly 400 books were pulled from its library. Titles removed included Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Memorializing the Holocaust, Half American (on Black soldiers in WWII), A Respectable Woman (about African American women's public roles in the 19th century), and Pursuing Trayvon Martin, which explores racial profiling and the 2012 shooting that sparked national protest. Similar efforts to filter library content have since expanded to the Army and Air Force academies.
In a separate memo also issued Friday, Hegseth directed military academies to strictly enforce merit-based admissions, explicitly prohibiting consideration of race, ethnicity, or sex. He emphasized the word "no" in the directive, while permitting exceptions for candidates with exceptional athletic talent, prior military service, or those from preparatory programs. Service secretaries are required to certify compliance within 30 days, and admissions offices must rank students by "merit-based scores" within nomination categories such as children of service members or nominees from members of Congress.
The dual memos mark a dramatic reshaping of educational and admissions standards within the military, reflecting Hegseth's stated goal to root out what he views as ideological influence from the armed forces' academic and recruitment processes.
Reporting by the Associated Press contributed to this story.
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