Scouting American To Cave to Pete Hegseth’s Demands That the Program Stop DEI Practices

Pete Hegseth made an announcement on Feb. 27, 2026, claiming that the program Scouting America would continue to receive support from the U.S. government after threatening to withdraw it over issues with Scouting policies.

The problem at hand: Hegseth believes that Scouting America's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has ruined the program. As such, he asked the higher-ups to remove any messages of inclusion, which allowed Scouting America to rebrand nearly 30 years ago.

News that Scouting America is caving to the DEI requests was a shocking one for current and former members of the organization, especially those who were able to sign up to become members of the program after the massive overhaul of policies allowed girls to join in on the fun.

You can find out exactly what changes Hegseth says Scouting America has agreed to, as well as why the organizers seem willing to make accommodations to stay in the Secretary of War's favor, below.

The statement was shared on the Department of War's official website with a video message from the secretary. In it, he explained that the U.S. would continue to provide Scouting America with support and resources after it agreed to "pull all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from its program."

Some of those lost initiatives will include the merit badge given to scouts who agree to commit to being inclusive and demonstrating "ethical leadership" both as a scout and in the world.

The organization will also be forced to collect gender information and then separate children according to the gender they were assigned at birth. This change is a particularly frustrating one for parents of children in the LGBTQ community, since it will prevent transgender children from being placed in the correct bunks, showers, and groups, potentially creating an unsafe situation for those kids.

However, Hegseth says the news is a win, stating that he hopes the program continues to regress.

Scouting America was formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America. However, the board decided to rebrand over the years, especially after hundreds of boys came forward claiming they were sexually abused.

Then, in 2017, the organization allowed girls to join all of the programs with the understanding that the values the organization prioritized, which include being "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave, and reverent," were important for both boys and girls to have, according to the Scouting Newsroom.

Hegseth said that Executive Order 14173 was partially behind his decision to demand the change — his other big concern was that Scouting America didn't put enough emphasis on "turning boys into men" — and he cited it in his statement.

For those who don't remember, the order was issued by Donald Trump on Jan. 21, 2026, which ended all government DEI practices, as well as requested that private companies and institutions do the same.

While it's unclear what the actual impacts of the DEI changes will be for Scouting America, most people are aware of the extreme backlash that faced public companies that caved to the request, including Target which saw a massive drop in profits after announcing an end to DEI practices.