Overview

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the department is not interested in naming ships after activists when he directed the USNS Harvey Milk to be stripped of its name.
• Senator Tammy Baldwin criticized the timing of the decision, saying Pride Month was an inappropriate moment to focus on renaming rather than global security challenges.
• Representative Eric Sorensen and nearly 70 House members led by Jill Tokuda and Nancy Pelosi sent a letter demanding the renaming order be rescinded.
• During a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Navy Secretary John Phelan testified that no final decision has been made and that a review of ship naming conventions is underway.
• The directive follows broader steps by Hegseth to ban identity month celebrations and enforce a transgender service ban as part of a wider anti-woke initiative.