Pentagon’s Religious Affairs Office receives mixed reviews

Democratic lawmakers continued releasing statements on Friday opposing the Defense Department’s proposed Office of Religious Affairs, previewed in Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Wednesday address. The new office would serve to strengthen the moral, ethical, and spiritual readiness of soldiers, Hegseth said. The new office would have a direct line to Hegseth, cutting down on bureaucratic dilution, according to Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. The office would have real teeth, and work to protect budgets, demand infrastructure, and strengthen religious support, Parnell added.

Responses:

• Rep. Mike Levin, D-Cali., released a Friday statement calling for an impeachment vote against Hegseth. The defense secretary had no business turning personal religious theology into an official posture of the U.S. military, Levin wrote. Hegseth is turning the Pentagon into a pulpit, despite the Bill of Rights clearly barring the government from establishing a religion, he added.

• Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Cali., also viewed the office as a violation of the First Amendment’s protection against state-sponsored religion. Hegseth, a full-throttle Christian nationalist, despised the separation of church and state and continually chipped away at it, Huffman alleged in a Wednesday statement.

• Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a veteran who served in Iraq, accused Hegseth of weaponizing religion during a Wednesday CNN interview, characterizing him as the worst defense secretary in American history. Hegseth is just trying to distract people from the fact that he’s losing a war, Gallego said.

• The Freedom from Religion Foundation referred to the new office as an unnecessary theology department, and highlighted concerns for non-Christian service members. Service members practicing a minority faith or no religion at all must still have their religious freedom protected, according to a Wednesday statement. Hegseth is charged with protecting the Constitution, not using the military to further his personal religion, the statement added.

• The Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services released a Thursday statement welcoming the office’s establishment, insisting that the office would strengthen and support service members and their families across all military branches. Establishing spiritual readiness as a departmental priority may help resolve historically limited chaplain support and reduce the time for needs to be met, he added.