Pete Hegseth 'backtracks' on 'repugnant' religious policy after GOP beatdown

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reversed course Monday on a Pentagon religious classification policy that had enraged Republican allies — after Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) called it "repugnant," phoned President Donald Trump directly, and demanded an immediate fix.

The controversy stemmed from a May 20 memo, first reported by Military.com, signed by Under Secretary of Defense Anthony Tata, that slashed the military's religious affiliation codes from 211 to just 31. The overhaul was designed to help chaplains better track and serve troops' beliefs — but the initial redone list left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints out of the Christian category entirely, classifying it separately from every other faith that professes belief in Jesus Christ.

The backlash was swift and bipartisan. Lee, a Utah Republican and Latter-day Saint himself, posted a video Sunday calling the policy an affront to "tens of thousands" of LDS service members. "It's just repugnant to any sense of decency, any sense of our common heritage," he said. Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) called it "unacceptable." Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) insisted Hegseth explain the exclusion to "hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints veterans."

Lee then posted that he had spoken with Trump by phone. "I won't speak for him, but I'm thrilled about where this is heading," he wrote.

By Monday afternoon, the Pentagon's rapid response account announced the reversal, framing the original list as containing "redundant and unnecessary labeling" — and an updated Religious Affiliation Codes list now includes "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" as a standalone entry. Capitol Hill correspondent Jamie Dupree described the move plainly: the Pentagon had "backtracked."

Curtis welcomed the fix. "Thank you to the Department of War for listening to our concerns, engaging thoughtfully and respectfully with my office on this issue, and for delivering a swift correction," he wrote on X.

Not everyone was satisfied. Atheist commentator Hemant Mehta argued the revised list still lumps together atheists and agnostics, collapses dozens of smaller faiths into a catch-all "Other Religions" category, and that "the 2017 list was better."