Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth noticed multiple sailors with facial hair during a recent ship visit and asked officials to take action to enforce the stricter beard policy he issued last year.
- Senior Pentagon officials held follow-up meetings telling subordinates that Hegseth is closely monitoring progress and pressing political appointees to accelerate enforcement of grooming and personnel directives.
- A Pentagon spokesman said commanders will be held accountable for consistent application of hair, weight, and grooming rules as the department works to restore what Hegseth calls readiness and discipline.
- Hegseth has also pushed Equal Employment Opportunity changes that require faster handling of complaints, add a presumption of innocence for subjects of complaints, and include an employee questionnaire about dismissed cases.
- Critics warn the beard policy limits medical waivers for pseudofolliculitis barbae, a condition that disproportionately affects Black servicemembers and could lead to dismissals after treatment, and the push fits a broader effort by Hegseth to reshape Pentagon culture.