WASHINGTON — Rep. Jared Huffman said the Pentagon “is not his pulpit,” after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced an Office of Religious Affairs that will report to the secretary.
Huffman, a California Democrat, posted the line on X at 12:31 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 2. He was quoting a clip of Hegseth’s Sept. 30 address at Quantico. He wrote that Hegseth’s “conception of religious freedom seems to begin and end with his own Christian Nationalist worldview,” and that the office gives him “even more power to inject his personal religious beliefs into the Pentagon.”
Pete Hegseth’s conception of religious freedom seems to begin and end with his own Christian Nationalist worldview. Now he’s creating an Office of Religious Affairs that reports directly to him, giving him even more power to inject his personal religious beliefs into the Pentagon. Hegseth seems determined to drag us down his dystopic road to Gilead, but the Pentagon is not his pulpit and our servicemembers are not his congregation.
In the department’s posted address, Hegseth said, “Today, at my direction, I’m establishing the Office of Religious Affairs. It will report straight to the top — a direct line to the secretary.” He cited Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,” and said the department was “putting on the full armor of God,” because “while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual.” He told chaplains to “preach truth” and “fear no man.” The address does not say the office will write doctrine, hire chaplains, or discipline a service member.
The office is one of six initiatives he listed that day. The others included a four-star autonomous-warfare command. A department memo, which he said takes effect immediately, creates the office under the secretary. The posted text does not name a director, a staff, or a budget. Huffman’s post does not cite the memo.
“Christian Nationalist” and “road to Gilead” are his labels. Gilead is the theocracy in Margaret Atwood’s novel. Hegseth did not use either phrase. He described the office as religious support with a line to him, tied to George Washington’s 1775 chaplains and to the motto “In God we trust.” The address does not say a service member must hold a belief.
Chaplains already exist in each service. The new office, on Hegseth’s account, is a channel to the secretary, not a replacement for the chaplain corps. Huffman said that channel is power to inject “personal religious beliefs.” The speech does not list a belief a member must adopt. It does put the office under him.
Huffman’s post does not cite the First Amendment, the establishment clause, or a chaplain statute. “Pulpit” and “congregation” are his. The reporting line is Hegseth’s.