House Members, Veterans Condemn Efforts to Scrub DEI From Military

WASHINGTON — Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., a former Air Force officer, was joined by other women veterans on Capitol Hill on Thursday to condemn President Donald Trump’s efforts to stamp out diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the military.

Among those appearing with Houlahan as a member of the Women In the Services Coalition was Sue Fulton, a 1980 graduate of West Point, who later served as assistant secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Now the CEO of the Army Women’s Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that promotes the public interest of women who have served or are serving in the U.S. Army, Fulton said Trump’s executive orders relating to the military are actually undermining women who choose to serve their country.

She and other members of the coalition warned that the rollback of these programs and leadership roles that involve women harms military readiness and erases decades of progress. 

They also stated that protecting women and their roles in the military should be viewed as a bipartisan issue, as it affects everyone.

Also joining Houlahan at the press conference were Reps. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., who served for 11 years as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve, and Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., a former Navy officer who was deployed to Iraq.

All spoke about the necessity of supporting and advocating for female soldiers in the U.S. military.

Goodlander said she now uses her position to fight for women in the service in the Armed Services Committee. 

During her brief remarks on Thursday, Goodlander reminded those in attendance that women have been fighting for America in one capacity or another since 1775.

“We are who we remember,” Goodlander said, in reference to her father, Ted, who she said has remained her inspiration.

It was her father, she said, who first told her, “When you love something, you fight for it.”

Deluzio said that during his time in the military, he served “with men and women from every walk of life.”

“The military is a place for all who are willing,” he said.

Trump has been targeting DEI programs across the federal government since his inauguration in January, calling the equity initiatives “illegal and immoral.”

But many of those who spoke at the press conference on Thursday believe his executive orders are, among other things, allowing for the erasure of women’s achievements in the military from public records. 

In that regard, the goal of Thursday’s event, in Houlahan’s words, was to declare, “We are here, and we are indeed essential.”

The coalition also believes the president’s executive orders are removing many of the protections that enable them to serve, such as access to reproductive health care, maternity leave, properly fitted uniforms and body armor, and protections against sexual assault. 

According to Houlahan, women currently constitute about 17.5% of active duty U.S. military personnel.

Other sources, including a 2023 demographics report from the Department of Defense, put the number a bit higher, reaching 24%, depending on the branch of service.

Among the other attendees at the press conference were Mary Tobin, a 2003 West Point graduate who served 10 years in the U.S. Army as a communications officer, Janessa Goldbeck, a former Marine Corps combat engineer, and Kyleanne Hunter, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Goldbeck, in particular, called out the “narrow and outdated stereotype” of the male-dominant military, and said she views Trump’s agenda as a full-scale assault on women in the military and the vital roles they serve there.

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