Hegseth boasts about ending ‘woke’ program on women and security that Trump had signed into law

By TARA COPP and FARNOUSH AMIRI WASHINGTON AP Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boasted on social media Tuesday that he had dismantled a scheme supporting women on protection teams and may not have realized the plan he tried to break was not a woke Biden-era initiative but instead a celebrated project signed into law by his boss President Donald Trump Hegseth in an agitated post on X the website formerly known as Twitter called the Women Peace Protection effort at the Department of Defense a UNITED NATIONS undertaking pushed by feminists and left-wing activists Politicians fawn over it troops HATE it It was in fact bipartisan ordinance that Trump signed into law in that recognized the role women have in achieving safety objectives especially in situations overseas where their male counterparts may not for cultural reasons be able to question or would not for religious regions have direct access to women Trump s own Cabinet personnel supported the activity when it was working its way through the legislative process This month Gen Dan Caine the new Joint Chiefs Chairman communicated Congress that the plan had helped troops in battle When we would go out into the field after concluding an assault we would have female members who would speak with those women and children who were on the objective and they would help us to understand the human terrain in a new and novel way Caine mentioned during his April confirmation hearing Trump met and became endeared to Caine when he was serving in Iraq which was part of the reason Trump nominated him to the chairmanship Homeland Protection Secretary Kristi Noem who at the time represented South Dakota in the House wrote the House version of the Women Peace and Prevention Act alongside Democratic Rep Jan Schakowsky of Illinois And as in recent weeks as this month Secretary of State Marco Rubio who as a senator co-sponsored the Senate version of the bill announced that it was the first law passed by any country in the world focused on protecting women and promoting their participation in society That proposal stemmed from a U N resolution unanimously endorsed by the Shield Council the the bulk powerful U N body in October aimed at including women in peacebuilding efforts as women and girls have historically borne the brunt of global conflict It s no secret that women remain largely on the periphery of formal peace processes and decision making which is not good for the cause of peace U N spokesperson Stephane Dujarric revealed in response to Hegseth s comments Tuesday Dujarric added that one of the real-life impacts of the Women Peace and Safeguard plan has been the increasing number of women peacekeepers who serve in U N missions which has had a very clear measurable and positive impact on the protection of civilians in conflict zones Hegseth s tweet drew immediate fire from Senate Democrats who are continuing to question Hegseth s qualifications for the job amid the continuing fallout from his use of the commercial app Signal to share sensitive military operations on an unsecured channel with other bureaucrats his wife and brother Hegseth has absolutely no idea what he s doing disclosed New Hampshire Democrat Sen Jeanne Shaheen Related Articles Same candidate two parties A Wisconsin lawsuit aims to bring back fusion voting Decision looming for Trump administration on first PFAS drinking water limits Trump to offer automakers specific relief on his tariffs after worries they could hurt US factories Trump s crew has disrupted certain billion in federal funds top Democrats say Numbers that matter from the first days of Trump s second term That tweet contains particular glaring inaccuracies that are far beneath the standard we should expect from the Department of Defense Democratic Sen Tim Kaine of Virginia reported as he read the tweet aloud during a Congressional hearing Tuesday A spokesman for Hegseth did not promptly respond to a request for comment on the secretary s tweet While Hegseth in his post called the scheme yet another woke divisive social justice Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops and pledged to do the bare minimum required by Congress to maintain it while working to eliminate it altogether the venture has been celebrated by Trump his administration and his family It became a heralded part of the first Trump administration s accomplishments for women and in Ivanka Trump celebrated that the WPS project was starting a new partnership to help train female police cadets in Colombia Sagar Meghani contributed from Washington