{"id":595516,"date":"2025-11-26T18:16:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T18:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/595516\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T18:16:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T18:16:16","slug":"hegseth-reportedly-plans-to-cut-support-to-us-scouts-group-for-being-genderless-pete-hegseth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/595516\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth reportedly plans to cut support to US scouts group for being \u2018genderless\u2019 | Pete Hegseth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, has said it is \u201csurprised and disappointed\u201d by a report that the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth<\/a>, could sever all military ties to the organization for being \u201cgenderless\u201d and failing to \u201ccultivate masculine values\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a draft memo to Congress obtained by NPR<\/a>, Hegseth criticized Scouting America, which began admitting girls in 2018, for purportedly attempting to \u201cattack boy-friendly spaces\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is no longer a meritocracy which holds its members accountable to meet high standards,\u201d Hegseth wrote.<\/p>\n

The US military<\/a> has provided support to the Scouts for more than a century. But in the memo, Hegseth said: \u201cThe organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

His proposal, which has not yet been sent to Congress, calls for the Pentagon to pull medical and logistical aid to the National Jamboree, a gathering of up to 20,000 Scouts at a remote site in West Virginia about every four years. It also looks to prohibit Scouting troops from meeting at military installations in the US and abroad.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the Pentagon said it \u201cwill not comment on leaked documents that we cannot authenticate and that may be pre-decisional\u201d.<\/p>\n

Congress requires the Pentagon to support the Jamboree. It lends trucks, ambulances and medical teams free of charge. But Hegseth can withhold that aid\u200a if he determines providing it would be \u201cdetrimental to national security\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the memo he claims Scouting America is fostering \u201cgender confusion\u201d and that it would harm national security to send troops and equipment to the Jamboree as it would divert resources from protecting US territory.<\/p>\n

Scouting America said in a statement that the organization is proud of its long affiliation with the military and, while it is \u201cdisappointed in the potential policy change\u201d, it was committed to continuing its work.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur nation\u2019s military has walked side-by-side with Scouts for generations,\u201d the group said. Scouting \u201cis and has always been a nonpartisan organization\u201d and works \u201cconstructively with every US presidential administration \u2013 Republican and Democrat\u201d.<\/p>\n

Its \u201cAmerican values have not changed\u201d, he said \u2013 to \u201cprepare young people for life by instilling in them the values of character, leadership, citizenship, and service\u201d.<\/p>\n

The partnership has long helped the military\u2019s recruitment efforts. As many as 20% of cadets and midshipmen at the service academies are Eagle Scouts, and those also decide to enlist enjoy advanced military rank and better pay. That would end under Hegseth\u2019s proposed policy changes.<\/p>\n

As president, Donald Trump is the honorary leader of Scouting America. At the time of the 2017 Jamboree, he praised the group as having \u201cno better citizens\u201d and pointed out that 10 of his cabinet members were former Scouts.<\/p>\n

Hegseth, who is not a former Boy Scout, in 2018 complained when the group changed its name and admitted girls, saying on Fox News that the organization has been \u201ccratering itself for quite some time\u201d. \u201cThis is an institution the left didn\u2019t control. They didn\u2019t want to improve it. They wanted to destroy it or dilute it into something that stood for nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Since taking office, Hegseth has moved to slash DEI programs at the Pentagon, disproportionately removing senior female and African American officers, and frequently suggesting, without evidence, that diversity in all its forms has weakened<\/a> the organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, has said it is \u201csurprised and disappointed\u201d by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-595516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}