Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told the young crowd at Turning Point USA's Student Action Summit Friday that he is returning the U.S. military to its "warrior ethos."
FIRST ON FOX: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has made it his priority to carve out "woke" policies from the Pentagon, and a Senate Republican is backing him up in Congress’ annual defense authorization bill.
As the Senate moves forward with the perennial National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), one of the annual must-pass bills in Congress that authorizes eye-popping sums of taxpayer funding for the Pentagon, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., scored a quiet win in Hegseth’s fight.
Banks secured an amendment to the $1.15 trillion policy package that aims to reverse Biden-era diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that seeped into hiring, communication and training at the Pentagon.
TRUMP'S IRAN DEAL 'GIVING A LOT MORE TO GET A LOT LESS' THAN OBAMA'S, SENATOR SAYS
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., listens during the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing for Secretary of Education nominee Linda McMahon in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Feb. 13, 2025. (Bill Clark/Getty Images)
"President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are turning the Pentagon around by getting rid of the Biden-era DEI nonsense that hurt morale and took focus away from the mission," Banks said in a statement.
"Our military should be focused on winning wars, not pushing political agendas," he continued. "I’m proud to have fought for this amendment to reinforce these reforms."
Banks’ amendment, first shared with Fox News Digital, includes three provisions targeting DEI practices at the Pentagon.
HEGSETH QUIPS '99.9%' OF DEI INITIATIVES ARE GONE FROM THE MILITARY UNDER TRUMP’S WATCH
It would nix prioritizing diversity for active-duty warrant officers, active-dut
