Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in a video that the Pentagon will continue its relationship with Scouting America after “seriously considering” cutting ties with the organization.
Hegseth accused Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, of having “lost its way” beginning in 2012, for its “embrace of DEl and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances.”
The organization, which began allowing girls to join its Cub Scout program in 2018, officially rebranded to Scouting America in 2025.
Hegseth said that he’d been weighing whether to eliminate the Pentagon’s partnership with Scouting America, which includes allowing the organization access to U.S. military installations, Department of War facilities, granting Eagle Scout recipients rank advancements, because he found the organizations’ current policies to be in violation of President Donald Trump’s, Executive Order 14173, titled "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity."
However, Hegseth said he sat down with the organization’s leadership and outlined reforms he expected to ensure the Pentagon's cooperation continues in a memorandum of understanding.
