Like many Pentagon chiefs who have come before him, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is standing up a task force to support his top priority for the department. In this case, it’s rooting out policies, education, and training that relate to diversity-equity-inclusion efforts—including a few that don’t actually exist.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday said he was creating a special internal agency to establish merit-based and color-blind policies throughout the Defense Department, including those dealing with military promotions and duty assignments.

A new Defense Department task force will look for ways to further limit diversity and inclusion programs throughout military training and advancement.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday moved to strike race and sex as considerations for military promotions, with plans for a new Pentagon task force to promote “merit-based, color-blind policies” throughout the U.