‘Eroded’
—
Democrats at Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing Tuesday repeatedly said that President Joe Biden’s Department of Defense (DOD) did not lower standards for women in the military, despite a long record of examples that it did.
MultipleDemocraticsenators,suchasDemocraticMassachusettsSen.ElizabethWarrenandDemocraticNewYorkSen.KirstenGillibrand,saidnumeroustimesduringthehearingthattherewerenolessenedstandardsforwomeninthemilitary.Theydeniedthat“quotas”existedbasedongender,butmultiplereportscontradicttheseclaims.Hegsethhasmadestatementsinthepastagainstwomenservingincombatroles,butherecentlychangedhisstanceinthewakeofhisnomination.
“Womenwillhaveaccesstogroundcombatrolesgiventhestandardsremainhigh,”Hegsethsaidduringthehearing.“We’llhaveareviewtomakesurestandardshavenotbeenerodedinanyofthesecases.”
TheU.S.ArmydecidedtomakedifferentstandardsformenandwomenintheArmyCombatFitnessTest(ACFT)in2022afteraRANDcorporationstudysaidwomenfailedthetestatmuchhigherratestha
