During a marathon House markup of next year\u2019s mammoth defense policy bill earlier this month, two proposed amendments that failed to make it out of committee tell a story of concern for the future of women in uniform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The amendments to the Fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, proposed by Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Clay Higgins, R-La., both pertain to the implementation of gender-neutral standards as mandated by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The amendment by Houlahan, an Air Force veteran and advocate for women in combat, would prohibit any service member from being excluded from \u201can occupational specialty, career field, or assignment on the basis of gender.\u201d It would also keep Hegseth from requiring gender-neutral fitness assessments for troops not in combat roles, and prohibit changes to military fitness requirements, unless supported by \u201cscientific findings establishing that the modified requirements predict the performance of actual, regular, and recurring combat duties of the ground combat roles subject to such modified requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The amendment offered by Higgins, an Army National Guard veteran, would require sex-neutral, but age-adjusted physical fitness standards for all troops, and mandate unspecified \u201chigher\u201d standards for those in ground combat positions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The amendments follow Hegseth\u2019s order last September that all the services develop gender-neutral physical fitness standards for all troops in ground combat roles, a move widely seen to be in line with his publicly expressed belief that women should not serve in combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt my direction, each service will ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS [military occupational specialty], for every designated combat arms position, returns to the highest male standard only, because this job is life or death, standards must be met, and not just met \u2014 at every level, we should seek to exceed the standard, to push the envelope, to compete,\u201d he told an audience of generals and admirals at Quantico, Virginia, last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though he has since softened his rhetoric, he said as recently as 2024 that women had no place on the front lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn\u2019t made us more effective,\u201d Hegseth said on a podcast. \u201cHasn\u2019t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this year, Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata announced a formal review of the effectiveness of women in ground combat jobs, which was reassigned to Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory from the Center for Defense Analyses several months later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a committee debate over the proposed amendments, Houlahan highlighted Hegseth\u2019s recent actions and suggested he was laying the groundwork for further moves to limit women\u2019s roles in the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI \u2026 really very much believe that we need to stop this, what I believe is a slippery slope and uncertain future, where we know the answer to these questions,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are women who are qualified and can meet those very, very high standards to be in those combat-related roles, and they should be allowed to be there. There is a concern that I have, that I think we all should have, that [Hegseth] has asked for yet another study of something we already know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Higgins claimed his amendment only buttressed what was already in policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re female in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Space Force, and you want to be on a team, then I want you to be on that team \u2014 If you can pass the physical fitness standards that the team establishes for everybody on the team, aside from age-norming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a notable move, Nebraska Republican Don Bacon, a retired Air Force brigadier general, sided with Houlahan in opposing Higgins\u2019 amendment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI served 30 years in the Air Force; I just don\u2019t think it would work to have the same standard and measure men and women with the same physical fitness standards for every job in the Air Force,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it would end up disqualifying a lot of people that \u2026 would be unnecessary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Houlahan\u2019s amendment failed, in accordance with committee rules, with a 28-28 vote tie; Higgins\u2019s failed 29-25. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not all lawmakers saw Hegseth\u2019s actions as a threat that needed to be stopped with new legislation, though. Rep. Jennifer Kiggans, R-Va., a former Navy helicopter pilot, voted against both amendments, her \u201cNo\u201d vote proving the deciding one against Houlahan\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnder current Department of War policy, servicemembers are eligible to serve in every occupational capacity, regardless of gender,\u201d Kiggans told Military Times in a statement. \u201cGender-neutral physical standards for ground combat roles were passed 10 years ago, and the bar hasn\u2019t changed. I\u2019m grateful for the leadership of the many amazing women I served with and encourage other young women to pursue the wide variety of careers offered by our great military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the chance that these proposed amendments are brought back up for floor debate in the full House is slim, the Senate version of the NDAA does contain an amendment similar to Houlahan\u2019s by Iowa Republican and Army veteran Joni Ernst, codifying sex-neutral standards for combat jobs only. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, Houlahan was able to add to the House bill a provision that will require the Pentagon to submit to Congress \u201cthe complete, unredacted\u201d review of women\u2019s effectiveness in combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NDAA must still pass the Senate and the House and then undergo version reconciliation in a conference session. The Pentagon-commissioned women in combat review is now expected to be completed by early next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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