Pete Hegseth Bragged About Ending A 'Woke' Program. There's Just 1 Problem.
The initiative that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth bragged about ending on Tuesday was actually one that President Donald Trump touted during his first term as a way of empowering women.
'This morning, I proudly ENDED the 'Women, Peace & Security' (WPS) program inside the @DeptofDefense,' Hegseth wrote on X.
He went on: 'WPS is yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops — distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING. WPS is a UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists. Politicians fawn over it; troops HATE it.'
He said the Pentagon would comply with it only so far as it had to by law, and would 'fight to end the program for our next budget.'
Yet it was Trump — not former President Joe Biden — who signed the Women, Peace and Security Act into law in October 2017 after the measure garnered bipartisan support in Congress. Two years later, Trump's administration released a strategy to implement the initiative throughout the U.S. government. It grew out of a United Nations initiative but found plenty of advocates on Capitol Hill.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was one of the bill's authors, back when she was a congresswoman from South Dakota.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also co-sponsored the Senate's version of the bill, and recently touted it as 'the first comprehensive law passed in any country in the world — the first law passed by any country anywhere in the world — focused on protecting women and promoting their participation in society.'
The measure acknowledged that when women participate in mediation, conflict resolution, and peacekeeping efforts, they are stronger for it.
'GOOD RIDDANCE WPS!' Hegseth wrote on X.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the lead Republican sponsor in her chamber, told HuffPost she was 'disappointed' in the secretary's decision.
'I believe Ivanka Trump was very interested in this. I think we've learned that through our experience in Iraq and in Afghanistan that women have a powerful experience achieving and seeking peace and security in countries where maybe they don't have the same kinds of rights that we do here,' Capito said.
The defense secretary's short tenure has so far been plagued by missteps. Since The Atlantic revealed that Hegseth had accidentally texted information on a planned military attack to the publication's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, reports have emerged that cast doubt on Hegseth's ability to keep sensitive information secure.
Trump has so far stood behind the former Fox News host, who came into the job with no experience leading an organization as large and well-funded as the U.S. military apparatus.
'I think he's gonna get it together,' Trump told The Atlantic over the weekend.
Igor Bobic contributed to this report.
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