When President Donald Trump took office for the second time, he signed an executive order to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices in the federal government (EO 14173), undoing the poison Joe Biden and crew had injected everywhere they could. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth pointed to that order in his big announcement video on the subject of the Pentagon’s partnership with Boy Scouts of America Scouting America.

The Department of War has officially put Scouting America on notice.

It’s time to get back to basics — and DoW is leading the charge. pic.twitter.com/EnY9mvaFLX

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) February 27, 2026

In that video, Hegseth lamented the decline of the Scouts by beginning with its great history. “For more than a century,” he said, “Boy Scouts of America prepared over 130 million American boys to make moral and ethical choices — not just during their formative years, but for a lifetime as they grew into men.” Six presidents, 11 of 12 astronauts who walked on the moon, and many other renowned men were Scouts.

Over the last couple of decades, however, the organization has been beset by sexual harassment/assault lawsuits, followed by choices that do the opposite of helping solve that problem.

“The result?” he asked. “Membership cratered.” Scouts has declined to what Hegseth says is fewer than one million members — a fraction of its once-formidable ranks. The more leftists try to include people, the fewer people want to join.

Yet Hegseth isn’t content to let the organization fade into oblivion without a fight. So, he put the BSA on notice back in November — ditch DEI, or lose your valuable and lucrative partnership with the Pentagon. It worked.

In his video, he announced that Scouting America had agreed to make a series of changes:

First, Scouting America has agreed to comply immediately with the provisions of Executive Order 14173. This includes reviewing and replacing politicized, divisive, and discriminatory language throughout the programs and the organizations. No more DEI. Zero.

Second, the “Citizen in Society” merit badge that encouraged scouts to explore diversity, equity, inclusion, and identity … and then ask those scouts to engage in activism on those topics — that badge had been discontinued.

Third, Scouting America will modify its policy to make clear that membership will be based solely on biological sex at birth, not gender identity. That means any application will have only two sex designations — male and female — and the application must match the applicant’s birth certificate. …

Fourth, Scouting America will honor those who serve by waiving the registration fees of children of active-duty, Guard, and Reserve families. …

Fifth, in partnership with the War Department, Scouting America will introduce a new military service merit badge.

I wrote about that DEI merit badge when it was first introduced amidst the George Floyd riots in 2020. In the ensuing years, two of my sons have earned their Eagle Scout rank. What I find amusing is this: My adopted black son had to earn that Eagle-required diversity badge. My biological white son did not — because he was older and had nearly completed his Eagle rank.

Is that what you call white privilege?

I’m incredibly proud of my sons for doing the work to follow what was still largely a great educational program. They learned valuable outdoor skills, citizenship virtues, and other useful abilities. They built friendships and learned to talk with and present to adults. They gained experience in planning and executing projects.

And they did it all without really encountering any of the woke stuff you hear about in headlines because our local troop was fantastic.

Yet after years of betraying its foundational values, the national organization has a long way to go to regain the credibility it once had. Part of that, Hegseth hoped, “The Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts, as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men. Maybe someday.”

That ain’t gonna happen, said the organization in its own statement. “Girls have been an integral part of Scouting since the 1960s,” so “we maintained our name as 'Scouting America.‘”

It’s literally not and never will be the same organization as long as that’s true. Still, for now at least, there’s progress in the right direction. As a former Scoutmaster, I hope it can continue.

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