Pete Hegseth creates a Pentagon Office of Religious Affairs reporting directly to him

ABC News and PBS NewsHour both report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is creating an Office of Religious Affairs at the Pentagon that will answer directly to him. It is the newest in a run of faith-oriented changes he has made at the department. Hegseth announced the office Wednesday in an address to chaplains at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, promising "first-class religious support." A Pentagon statement says the office will press for chaplains and religious support at the department's highest level without compelling participation, favoring one faith or diminishing anyone's rights. No director has been named. A Pentagon memo tasks that person with coordinating homeschooling help rooted in faith for military families and efforts against suicide. PBS NewsHour adds that a photo caption dates the speech to Sept. 30, 2026. Critics spoke up quickly. Rachel Laser, who leads Americans United for Separation of Church, said the move raises Christianity's role in military policy; her group has sued over the Pentagon's worship services. Shaun Casey, a religion scholar who ran the Obama-era State Department's Office of Religion and Global Affairs, said that office existed to understand religion's political implications abroad, not to promote it, according to ABC News · PBS NewsHour.

Summarized by PolitiKool from ABC News · PBS NewsHour and PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at ABC News · PBS NewsHour → Also at PBS NewsHour →