This story was originally reported by Mariel Padilla of The 19th. Meet Mariel and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy.

Two women veterans in Congress led nearly 100 House Democrats in sending a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, calling his recent comments about women in the military deeply harmful and demanding more transparency. The leaders of the effort, Reps. Chrissy Houlahan and Maggie Goodlander, called for the reinstatement of an independent advisory committee dedicated to women in the service.

“We are writing to express our deep alarm at your recent remarks and actions targeting women in the military,” the Democrats said in the letter, which was provided to The 19th.

The letter comes as Congress is setting the military’s budget and on the heels of Hegseth’s extremely unusual decision to call hundreds of generals and admirals stationed around the world to convene in Virginia on September 30. In a 45-minute address at that meeting, Hegseth largely spoke about ridding the military of “woke garbage.” He touched on women in combat roles and the need for gender-neutral standards, denounced diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and criticized so-called gender diversity quotas — which do not exist. 

“Women have sacrificed their safety and, at times, their lives, for our country and we are deeply alarmed by this Administration’s attempts to attack their merits,” the letter said. “We also oppose dismantling any resources that support their well-being and equal treatment. Any suggestion that women are unqualified, either in body or spirit, is a profound insult to the service women who have contributed so much to our country.” 

Women make up more than 21 percent of the active-duty force and have held combat roles in the military for decades. 

In the letter, the members of Congress also criticize Hegseth’s recent memos weakening the definitions of hazing and bullying, which will likely make it more challenging to bring discrimination and harassment complaints within the Armed Forces. The changes could hinder the military justice reforms made in the past several years that aimed to help victims of sexual harassment and assault. Nearly 1 in 4 women in the military report having experienced sexual assault and more than half report harassment — though researchers found the vast majority of incidents go unreported altogether.  

“Rates of discrimination, hazing, and bullying are prevalent in the military for both men and women, but women experience these unwanted behaviors at significantly higher rates,” the letter said. “These issues are known to affect readiness and can lead to severe health and career consequences for service members, thereby disproportionately impacting women who serve.” 

Houlahan, an Air Force veteran and ranking member of the Military Personnel Subcommittee on the Armed Services Committee, said Hegseth’s impact on the military has been “enormously chilling.” Houlahan said one of her relatives is interested in joining the military but her parents are “really worried” about the environment that she would be entering. 

“That’s just my own personal family, so I can only imagine that this is affecting a lot of people as they make their decision — not just whether to join, but also whether to stay,” Houlahan said. 

Goodlander, who served as an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve, said she recently celebrated the 250th birthday of the Navy with a room full of sea cadets and their parents. Young women who are looking at our military now and their parents are worried about going into a department that has a “person at the helm who has no business serving in that extraordinary position of public trust,” said Goodlander, who is also a member of the Democratic Women’s Caucus. 

“Hegseth’s speech fits squarely into a pattern of what we’ve seen from Hegseth since even before the beginning of his tenure as secretary,” said Goodlander, pointing to the fact that he also ousted the only women who held four-star ranks as part of his first actions in the role. 

The letter decried Hegseth’s termination of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service (DACOWITS), one of the Defense Department’s oldest independent advisory committees. In its 75-year history, DACOWITS was instrumental in lifting the ban on women in combat. It also provided recommendations — based on research, data and direct engagement with service members — to the Defense Department, including on proper combat gear for women and parental leave policies. The Defense Department fully or partially adopted about 94 percent of the committee’s recommendations, according to the letter. 

“DACOWITS has played a critically important role in fulfilling your stated goal of a merit based system by breaking down barriers to ensure opportunities for the most qualified individuals to serve our country,” the letter said. “Our military must be a place that enables our service members, of every gender, race, and faith, to serve with dignity and bring their full talents to bear.” 

Houlahan said that the Defense Department has not been transparent and that Congress does not know whether any residual aspects of DACOWITS will be retained elsewhere. She said Hegseth has failed to respond to calls for more information. 

Goodlander said Hegseth’s perspective on women in the military and his strategy in leading the U.S. Armed Forces are “objectively weakening us.” 

“It’s clear to anybody who watched his confirmation hearing and continued to watch his inexperience and his lack of judgment exposed again and again, he’s pivoted to a performative and hateful bravado against core American ideas and against a core American constituency: women who have served and the women who will serve,” Goodlander said. 

At the end of the letter, the House Democrats request the “immediate reinstatement of DACOWITS.” And if no change is made by October 31, the members of Congress are demanding an in-person briefing no later than November 6 to discuss Hegseth’s rationale in eliminating the committee and a detailed explanation of new general fitness and occupational physical requirements. 

“I’m just confounded by the ineptitude,” Houlahan said. “The fact that Secretary Hegseth believes that he’s shaping an organization around what he deems to be a meritocracy — when he is literally the least qualified person that I have ever known to serve in that office. And for him to malign 51 percent of the population, the women of our nation, in reference to an all-volunteer service — it’s mind-boggling. I think it’s a lack of understanding that he clearly has of what modern combat is and what lethality is.”