Overview
- The memo, released Nov. 12, directs immediate internal steps to raise the top special‑operations civilian office’s rank, including treating it as 'Code 2' in DoD precedence and adding it to senior DoD governance bodies.
- Hegseth ordered rapid personnel and funding moves that officials say will add roughly 100 dedicated billets and direct the comptroller to identify about $45 million a year from O&M to support the office’s work.
- Separately the memo instructs DoD legislative affairs to draft proposals to Congress to create a statutory Under Secretary of Strategic Services, a change that would require authorization in the NDAA and new appropriations.
- Defense experts have raised legal and oversight concerns, saying the secretary cannot unilaterally make statutory changes or permanently appropriate funds and warning the shift could blur military (Title 10) and intelligence (Title 50) roles.
- The move builds on a long debate over SOF resourcing and authority and could reshape acquisition, planning, and force balance if Congress approves; the next milestones are congressional review in the NDAA process and FY budget decisions.