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Hegseth Disbands Pentagon Women’s Advisory Panel After Rapid Reversal

A long-running advisory body whose recommendations often became policy is being shut down over readiness concerns.

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The Pentagon | (AFP/Getty)
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Overview

  • An internal Sept. 17 memo signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth orders the formal disestablishment of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
  • The directive instructs officials to reassign personnel, conclude contracts, and archive the committee’s records as part of the closure process.
  • The move reverses a Sept. 8 Hegseth memo that had outlined a phased return for DACOWITS and dozens of other paused advisory groups.
  • Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said the panel advanced a “divisive feminist agenda” that hurt combat readiness, while Hegseth has emphasized uniform, sex‑neutral standards across the force.
  • DACOWITS, established after the 1948 integration act and reinstated by Lloyd Austin in 2022, recently examined recruiting, submarine integration, fitness and eating‑disorder data, menopause and postpartum reintegration, and women’s health including telehealth access after Roe v. Wade; The Daily Signal reported FY2023–2024 costs at $1.128 million.