Pentagon keeps funding after Scouting America bans DEI and limits sex designation

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Feb. 26 that the Pentagon will continue support for Scouting America after the youth organization agreed to remove diversity, equity and inclusion programs and tighten sex-designation rules on membership forms. The memorandum of understanding signed by Scouting America requires applications to provide only "male" and "female" options and that the designation "must match the applicant's birth certificate," and it bars opposite-sex sharing of "intimate spaces, including toilets, showers and tents."

The agreement also discontinues the organization's Citizenship in Society merit badge, which had tied advancement to awareness of diversity and inclusion, and creates a new Military Service merit badge focused on veterans and service members. Scouting America said the arrangement "will strengthen those ties by 'waiving registration fees for military families, launching a new merit badge focused on military service and veterans, and reinforcing our commitment to Scouting's foundational ideas: leadership, character, duty to God, duty to country and service.'"

Hegseth framed the concessions as a condition of continued Pentagon support and described the changes as part of a broader push inside the Defense Department against what he called politicized programming. "This includes reviewing and replacing politicized, divisive and discriminatory language throughout the organization, programs and all publications. No more DEI. Zero," Hegseth said. He told reporters he had been "very seriously considering ending our support of Scouting altogether" and said the Pentagon will "vigorously review" implementation over the next six months, warning that DoD support could be withdrawn if Scouting America fails to comply. "We hope that doesn't happen, but it could," he said.

The MOU language and Hegseth's demands mark a sharp reversal for an organization that in recent years expanded inclusion. Scouting America, the successor to the Boy Scouts after a 2024 rebrand, opened youth membership to gay and transgender children and to girls in stages between 2013 and 2019. As of May 2024, more than 6,000 girls had earned the Eagle Scout rank. An original report on the deal said Scouting America would "deny entry to transgender children" as part of the concession to preserve military ties.

Pentagon officials used tangible leverage to secure the changes. Hegseth threatened to pull all military support, including the removal of Scout troops from military bases, a pressure point that officials say prompted months of behind-the-scenes talks. Military.com reported that Scouting America described the outcome as a "renewed, strengthened partnership with the Department of War," a phrasing that differs from other outlets' references to the Pentagon or Department of Defense.

The move raises operational and institutional questions that the MOU excerpts do not answer. Sources provided no details about how local units will verify birth certificates, how separate facilities will be managed at mixed events, or how the policies will apply to overseas or on-base units that have served military families. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell earlier in February called Scouting America "a great organization" that had "lost its way," criticizing earlier decisions he said "run counter to the values" of the administration.

Scouting America did not immediately offer a fuller public comment beyond the statement about fee waivers and new programming. The sudden policy reversal places local councils, volunteer leaders and military families at the center of an implementation challenge with significant civic consequences: the nation’s longstanding youth-to-military pipeline and community service traditions will now operate under a new set of rules that will be scrutinized during the DoD's six-month compliance review.