President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he will order the release of government records related to &#8220;alien and extraterrestrial life.&#8221;
Trump announced his plans to release the records in a Truth Social post. The move comes after former President Barack Obama asserted that aliens “are real” in a recent YouTube interview.
“Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116100300268316472">said</a> Trump.
Earlier on Thursday, the president <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-swipes-at-obama-over-alien-revelations-he-gave-classified-information">joked</a> that Obama “gave classified information” when he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/barack-obama-on-aliens-theyre-real">spoke</a> about the existence of aliens with podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen on Saturday.
“I can tell you he gave classified information, he’s not supposed to be doing that,” said Trump when asked by Fox News&#8217; Peter Doocy about Obama’s remarks while aboard Air Force One.
“He made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information,” said Trump without affirming or denying the existence of extraterrestrial life.
&#8220;No, I don&#8217;t have an opinion on it. I never talk about it,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;A lot of people do. A lot of people believe it.&#8221;
&#8220;Do you believe it, Peter?&#8221; Trump said, returning the question back to Doocy, who responded in kind.
&#8220;The president can declassify anything he wants to,&#8221; Doocy said.
&#8220;Maybe I’ll get him out of trouble,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;I may get him out of trouble by declassifying.&#8221;
After Obama’s quick comments about aliens during a “lightning round” of questioning on Cohen’s show, the former president sought to clarify his remarks in a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DUy9E_UD9RR/">post</a> on Instagram. Obama’s clarification after his remarks about the existence of aliens caught traction online.
“I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention let me clarify. Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!” said Obama.

Donald Trump

Trump Orders Release Of ‘Any And All’ Info On Aliens And UFOs

Aliens

Barack Obama

Executive

Pete Hegseth

Politics

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has directed Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to remove Colonel Dave Butler from his role as chief of Army public affairs and senior advisor, the latest in a series of leadership changes at the Pentagon tied to ongoing efforts to reshape senior military ranks.
On Thursday, Hegseth ordered Driscoll to remove Butler from his post even though Driscoll had resisted the move for months because of Butler’s role in Army transformation efforts and communications leadership. The order came just before Driscoll was to leave for Geneva to assume leadership of the U.S. delegation in ongoing talks on the Ukraine war.
In a statement <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/17/pete-hegseth-dan-driscoll-david-butler/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzcxMzA0NDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzcyNjg2Nzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NzEzMDQ0MDAsImp0aSI6IjM1NTk0ZDBjLWY1NmQtNDlkNC1hZTQyLTBjNDFlNWQxMjgxOCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9uYXRpb25hbC1zZWN1cml0eS8yMDI2LzAyLzE3L3BldGUtaGVnc2V0aC1kYW4tZHJpc2NvbGwtZGF2aWQtYnV0bGVyLyJ9.2kXkZH7uJuJMTsWNZIda10tbo6UwQGf_ycpMPittFpY">sent</a> to The Washington Post, Driscoll thanked Butler for his service: “We greatly appreciate Col. Dave Butler’s lifetime of service in America’s Army and to our nation,” adding that Butler has been “an integral part of the Army’s transformation efforts” and wishing him success in his upcoming retirement after 28 years in uniform.
Butler had also served as the head of public affairs for the Joint Chiefs of Staff when General Mark Milley was chairman, a tenure that placed him in a leadership circle viewed critically by the Trump-aligned Pentagon team. Milley’s tenure became a flash point in the Trump era. As chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the previous administration, he drew public criticism from Trump allies after reportedly reassuring Chinese military officials during the 2020 transition that the U.S. would not attack, a development Trump himself <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111111513207332826">called</a> “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.”
The Pentagon later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-era-of-accountability-hegseth-strips-gen-mark-milleys-security-detail">revoked</a> Milley’s personal security detail and his security clearance, and multiple Pentagon investigations were <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2025/05/20/senators-demand-new-investigation-into-former-gen-milleys-conduct/">ordered</a> into his conduct.
Those actions by Hegseth — stripping Milley’s security detail and opening a formal inquiry — were widely covered in Pentagon reporting at the time and stem from long-running tension between Milley and Trump-aligned political leadership over the general’s calls with foreign counterparts and public statements about civilian control.
Butler’s association with Milley and his role as a senior communications officer under him have not been publicly cited by the Department of War as the official reason for his removal; however, the timing and the ongoing pattern of personnel changes at the Pentagon suggest internal disagreements over leadership philosophy and messaging are at work.
Since taking office, Hegseth has been reshaping senior roles across the Department of Defense. Fox News has <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/secdef-hegseth-responds-rumors-he-drafted-list-military-officials-he-purge">reported</a> that multiple senior officers, including four-star leaders across service branches, have been replaced, retired, or moved out of key positions amid what the War Department describes as a refocusing of leadership toward mission priorities.
Butler’s removal is especially notable because his name appeared on promotion lists for two consecutive years for his first star, but Hegseth has delayed approvals for several officers selected by the Army board, in part over concerns about those choices. Butler volunteered to withdraw his own name from the list to help clear the logjam.
The directive to remove Butler comes as the Pentagon continues to balance internal leadership changes with ongoing international commitments, and will likely draw scrutiny from lawmakers and military observers watching how the department manages personnel decisions amid fragile peace talks in both Europe and the Middle East that require a united front by American military command.

President Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting At The White House

Hegseth Just Canned Top Pentagon Official

Department of War

Pentagon

The United States military, under the command of President Donald Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, took out three boats suspected of trafficking drugs on Monday, killing 11 &#8220;male narco-terrorists,&#8221; according to U.S. Southern Command.
The kinetic strikes targeted two boats in the Eastern Pacific and one boat in the Caribbean. U.S. Southern Command said that the suspected drug-runners were &#8220;transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations.&#8221; On Tuesday, the U.S. military shared unclassified <a href="https://x.com/Southcom/status/2023791027383890240">video footage</a> of all three strikes.
&#8220;Turns out President’s Day — under President Trump — is not a good day to run drugs,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/2023810666004668441">said</a> War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
With the latest strikes, at least 145 suspected drug runners have been killed in 42 strikes targeting &#8220;narcoterrorist&#8221; boats in the Pacific and Caribbean since last September. Monday&#8217;s operations followed a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-military-says-it-obliterated-another-narcoterrorist-drug-boat-in-caribbean">strike</a> on Friday that destroyed a boat and killed three suspected drug smugglers.
President Donald Trump has defended his authority to carry out the strikes as Democrats argue that Congress must be given a say in the military operations being conducted without a declaration of war. Some Democrats have even claimed that Trump&#8217;s boat strikes in international waters amount to murder. Trump, however, has not backed down on his vow to obliterate suspected drug boats and argues that the United States is in an &#8220;armed conflict&#8221; with drug cartels that seek to transport deadly substances into the United States.
Shortly after the United States began conducting strikes against suspected drug traffickers, Trump <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-warns-drug-traffickers-we-will-blow-you-out-existence-2025-09-23/">said</a> in a speech at the United Nations, &#8220;To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence.&#8221;
Responding to criticism from lawmakers over the strikes in October, Trump told reporters, “I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We’re going to kill them.&#8221;
Trump has also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whatever-we-have-to-do-trump-says-hes-ok-with-striking-inside-mexico-to-stop-drugs">suggested</a> that the United States could target suspected narco-terrorists on land, which he said could include strikes inside Mexico and Colombia.
The U.S. strikes were further scrutinized by some lawmakers late last year after it was revealed that the U.S. military conducted a second strike on one boat in early September after some of the suspected narco-terrorists survived the first attack. The War Department has not publicly released the footage of the second strike and has only shown a select few lawmakers footage of the &#8220;double tap&#8221; strike.
Trump&#8217;s military campaign against drug traffickers led to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro last month.
Maduro, who was accused of conspiring to traffic drugs to the United States, raged against the U.S. strikes in the Caribbean and vowed to fight U.S. forces if the United States made a move on Venezuela.
Following his capture, Maduro was charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy, and he now awaits trial in New York.

U.S. Southern Command

U.S. Destroys Three Suspected Narco-Terrorist Boats On Presidents’ Day

Drug Cartels

U.S. Military

WASHINGTON — The Department of War reduced its civilian workforce by more than 10% last year, according to Pentagon data first obtained by The Daily Wire.
The War Department&#8217;s civilian workforce decreased from 794,538 to 712,677 employees last year, The Daily Wire has learned, resulting in a net reduction of 81,861 employees, about 10.3%. The reduction in force is one way War Secretary Pete Hegseth, under the direction of President Donald Trump, has worked to strengthen the American military.
&#8220;The goal was straightforward: eliminate redundancies and ensure the Department operates as a well-oiled machine for our warfighters,&#8221; a War Department official shared. “Doing this is fully aligned with the president’s priorities.”
Hegseth <a href="https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4189049/dod-uses-voluntary-reductions-as-path-to-civilian-workforce-goals/">announced in March 2025</a> that reductions in the workforce were part of his larger plan to rebuild the military in the spirit of the Trump administration. Hegseth emphasized that to minimize involuntary separations, he wanted to ease the path towards voluntary reductions.
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&#8220;To deliver on my commitment to urgently rebuild our military, revive the warrior ethos and deliver maximum deterrence, we must aggressively refocus every available resource towards our core mission,&#8221; Hegseth said. &#8220;We will realign the size of our civilian workforce and strategically restructure it to supercharge our American warfighters consistent with my interim National Defense Strategy guidance.&#8221;
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<div id="attachment_1044737" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-much-the-war-department-reduced-its-workforce-in-2025/u-s-president-trump-visits-uss-george-washington-in-japan-3" rel="attachment wp-att-1044737"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1044737" class="wp-image-1044737 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2243728587-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2243728587-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2243728587-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2243728587-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2243728587.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)</div>
The War Department also hired 29,347 new employees and processed 109,441 departures in 2025. Of those departures, 14,606 were involuntary departures, and 94,835 were voluntary departures.
Under the 2025 Voluntary Deferred Resignation Program, civilian employees could submit a voluntary resignation with an effective date of September 30, 2025, while still receiving full salary and benefits. That program received 70,481 applications, resulting in 49,991 signed separation agreements.
Additionally, some 6,600 employees left the War Department using the Voluntary Retirement Authority program.
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Hegseth has argued throughout his tenure as the Secretary of War that his objectives are &#8220;restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military and reestablishing deterrence.&#8221; The most fundamental of those three, he said, is &#8220;restoring the warrior ethos.&#8221;
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&#8220;Everything starts and ends with warriors in training and on the battlefield,&#8221; he told top military leaders at Quantico in April 2025. &#8220;We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind. And refocusing on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards and readiness.&#8221;
At the time, he noted that the War Department was &#8220;optimizing the civilian workforce, ensuring that we have the right employees in the right roles, at the right time to support our warfighters.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re doing this by voluntary means, to the greatest extent possible, through offerings like voluntary early retirement and separation initiatives,&#8221; he added, describing how the Pentagon was also ending telework and remote work culture, expecting employees to deliver results and respond to leadership needs.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a lot of change very quickly,&#8221; he said at the time. &#8220;Now as you may have noticed, the media likes to call it chaos. We call it overdue. How are the men and women responding to this — to this call? Well, I can tell you personally it&#8217;s going better than we could have ever expected. This department, and you know it, across the joint force is filled with patriots who want nothing more than to focus — be laser focused on serving their country. And that&#8217;s why retention is rebounding as well, big time, in real time.&#8221;
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President Trump Visits Fort Bragg To Honor U.S. Forces

Here’s How Much The War Department Reduced Its Work Force in 2025

U.S. military forces boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean in what the Pentagon described as a coordinated effort to disrupt illicit Venezuelan oil shipments tied to the regime of former dictator Nicolás Maduro.
According to the Department of War, U.S. forces conducted a “right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding” of the tanker Veronica III overnight Saturday into Sunday, after the vessel attempted to evade a U.S.-imposed quarantine on sanctioned ships.
“The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine — hoping to slip away,” the Pentagon said in a post on X. “We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down.”
Video released by the Pentagon showed U.S. troops boarding the tanker without resistance.
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We defend the Homeland forward. Distance does not protect you.
Overnight, U.S. forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the Veronica III without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility.
The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s… <a href="https://t.co/Tran3cLR9g">pic.twitter.com/Tran3cLR9g</a>
— Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeptofWar/status/2022997870061011067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The Veronica III is a crude oil tanker that has previously been linked to Venezuela’s oil exports and is listed under U.S. sanctions related to Iran by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The boarding is the latest move in the Trump administration’s broader effort to dismantle what U.S. officials have described as Venezuela’s “shadow fleet,&#8221; a network of falsely flagged or covertly operated tankers used to move sanctioned crude into global markets.
​​The boarding came as the Department of War confirmed Monday that U.S. forces had intercepted another sanctioned tanker, the Aquila II, which like the Veronica III, had fled the Venezuelan coast following the January operation that removed Maduro from power.
Both tankers falsely flew Panamanian flags and are under U.S. sanctions tied to illicit oil shipments. Both had spent much of the past year “running dark,” a common smuggling tactic in which ships disable their tracking transponders to evade detection.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XF2bSRak-U">Speaking</a> Monday during a stop at Maine Bath Iron Works as part of his “Arsenal of Freedom Tour,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the administration intends to pursue every tanker that attempted to escape U.S. enforcement.
“The only guidance I gave to my military commanders is none of those are getting away,” Hegseth told shipyard workers. “I don’t care if we’ve got to go around the globe to get them — we’re going to get them.”
U.S. officials say at least 16 tankers fled Venezuelan waters in the aftermath of the January raid, prompting a global tracking effort that has now stretched from the Caribbean into the Indian Ocean. The Trump administration has now seized seven tankers since the January 3 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-carries-out-military-strikes-on-venezuela-captures-president-nicolas-maduro">operation</a>. This is part of a broader push to dismantle Venezuela’s shadow oil fleet and reassert control over the country’s petroleum exports.
Anonymous Naval officials <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/09/us-military-strike-pacific?utm_source=chatgpt.com">confirmed</a> to The Guardian that multiple U.S. vessels, including guided-missile destroyers and a mobile sea base, were operating in the Indian Ocean, underscoring the administration’s willingness to enforce sanctions far beyond the Western Hemisphere.
Venezuela’s oil sector has been under heavy U.S. sanctions for years, forcing the Maduro regime to rely on clandestine shipping routes and foreign intermediaries to sustain revenue. In December, President Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned Venezuelan tankers as part of an escalating pressure campaign, weeks before Maduro was apprehended during a U.S. military operation in January.
The Pentagon did not clarify whether the Veronica III has been formally seized or placed under U.S. control, stating only that the boarding was conducted successfully and without incident. 
“International waters are not sanctuary,” the Department of War said in its statement. “By land, air, or sea, we will find you and deliver justice.”
While the administration has offered limited public detail on the legal mechanisms governing the seizures, officials have framed the campaign as a necessary extension of sanctions enforcement against hostile regimes and their economic lifelines.
The interception of the Veronica III signals that, even as Maduro waits to stand trial, U.S. forces will continue to pursue the remnants of Venezuela’s illicit oil trade, and that geography alone will not shield sanctioned actors from American reach.

Venezuela Oil Tanker

U.S. Forces Intercept Another Sanctioned Venezuelan Oil Tanker, Seventh Since Fall Of Maduro

Global Politics

Nicolas Maduro

Trump Administration

Venezuela

World

The U.S. military conducted another lethal strike on Friday against a suspected drug‑smuggling vessel in the Caribbean, killing three, the latest in a concerted campaign under Operation Southern Spear to disrupt narcotics trafficking networks that transport deadly drugs toward the United States.
<a href="https://www.southcom.mil/News/PressReleases/Article/4406922/lethal-kinetic-strike-feb-13-2026/">According</a> to U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Gen. Francis L. Donovan directed Joint Task Force Southern Spear to carry out a “lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” adding that no U.S. military personnel were harmed in the operation. Video accompanying the announcement shows the boat steaming along known narco routes just before it is struck and destroyed.
This strike marks the fourth publicly disclosed operation in 2026, following an earlier <a href="https://www.southcom.mil/News/PressReleases/Article/4401932/lethal-kinetic-strike-feb-9-2026/">attack</a> this week in the Eastern Pacific that killed two and left one survivor. Since Southern Spear began operations in September 2025, there have been 39 confirmed engagements in both the Pacific and Caribbean.
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On Feb. 13, at the direction of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SOUTHCOM?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SOUTHCOM</a> commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… <a href="https://t.co/y50Pbtexfi">pic.twitter.com/y50Pbtexfi</a>
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/Southcom/status/2022469576332574908?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The impact of these strikes against multiple vessels moving along established smuggling corridors has forced cartel networks to adjust their operations, according to statements by Defense officials. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth previously <a href="https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/2019511650282545273">posted</a> that “some top cartel drug‑traffickers” have chosen to “cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY” in response to the “highly effective” multilateral crackdown.
Southern Spear targets suspected traffickers in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, regions notoriously used by transnational cartels to transport heroin, cocaine, fentanyl, and precursor chemicals up to the U.S. mainland. SOUTHCOM has described the vessels it strikes as linked to designated terrorist organizations and engaged in narco‑trafficking, although it has not publicly disclosed the identities of the groups involved.
Support for the operation has come from high levels of the Trump administration, which has framed the maritime strikes as part of a broader confrontation with narco‑terror and cartel networks that operate with impunity in the Western Hemisphere. Officials argue that the lethal pressure is longstanding justice for families ravaged by drugs and a stark deterrent to traffickers who have specialized in moving product toward U.S. streets.
The Southern Spear campaign has unfolded against the backdrop of an even broader security offensive aimed at narcotics networks and destabilizing forces in the region. On January 3, 2026, U.S. Special Forces executed a complex nighttime raid in Caracas that resulted in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, whom U.S. officials have charged with drug trafficking and narco‑terrorism.
The Caracas <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-states-carries-out-military-strikes-on-venezuela-captures-president-nicolas-maduro">operation</a>, involving elite units such as Delta Force, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, and support from over 150 aircraft, demonstrated a willingness by the U.S. military to confront narco‑state threats directly, and not just at sea.
The campaign in Venezuela has been justified by U.S. leaders as part of an effort to dismantle the infrastructure used by cartels, particularly groups allied with or operating out of Venezuela. Hegseth and other officials have linked Caracas’ regime and associated networks to the flow of drugs that fuels the opioid crisis in the United States. The capture of Maduro and his extradition to New York to face federal charges further ties the regional narcotics fight to broader national security and law enforcement priorities.
The combination of maritime strikes and high‑profile operations like the Venezuela raid reflects a multi‑domain pressure campaign aimed at disrupting narcotics infrastructure at every level. By striking at both the transportation networks on the seas and leadership figures linked to narco‑trafficking in the region, cartels and allied networks no longer enjoy safe passage or sanctuary.
According to the Trump administration, each successful strike degrades traffickers’ operational capabilities and expands deterrence across the hemisphere. As the Southern Spear campaign continues, the decisive actions reflect a unified strategy to choke off cocaine, fentanyl, and other illicit flows at their source, hitting traffickers where they are most vulnerable: on the sea, in leadership echelons, and in allied networks that have long benefitted from weak enforcement.

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U.S. Military Says It Obliterated Another Narcoterrorist Drug Boat In Caribbean

narco-terrorism

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked War Secretary Pete Hegseth from stripping Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of his rank and military pay.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, appointed by former President George W. Bush, comes after Hegseth censured Kelly over the video he helped produce with five other Democrats urging military members to disobey &#8220;illegal orders.&#8221; In response, Kelly sued Hegseth, arguing that his First Amendment rights were violated.
In the 29-page <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365/gov.uscourts.dcd.288365.37.0_2.pdf">ruling</a>, Judge Leon wrote that Kelly&#8217;s First Amendment defense &#8220;is likely to succeed on merits,&#8221; adding, &#8220;This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly&#8217;s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.&#8221;
Leon said Hegseth&#8217;s argument &#8220;that military servicemembers enjoy less vigorous First Amendment protections&#8221; due to their obligations to the country has never been applied to &#8220;retired servicemembers&#8221; by a court.
&#8220;This Court will not be the first to do so!&#8221; Leon added.
Leon&#8217;s ruling means that the War Department cannot proceed with its actions against Kelly as the court continues to consider the case. Kelly, a retired Navy officer and astronaut, ripped Hegseth and President Donald Trump after Leon&#8217;s ruling was released.
&#8220;Today a federal court made clear Pete Hegseth violated the Constitution when he tried to punish me for something I said. This is a critical moment to show this administration they can&#8217;t keep undermining Americans&#8217; rights,&#8221; Kelly <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUqtAMFj5Ul/">said</a>. &#8220;I also know this might not be over yet, because Trump and Hegseth can&#8217;t admit when they are wrong.&#8221;
Hegseth <a href="https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/2022035474337214836">vowed</a> to appeal the judge&#8217;s ruling &#8220;immediately,&#8221; writing, &#8220;Sedition is sedition, &#8216;Captain.'&#8221;
In the video, the Democrats said the Trump administration &#8220;is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens.&#8221;
&#8220;Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution,” the Democratic lawmakers told U.S. service members. “Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.&#8221;
The Trump administration labeled the video as &#8220;seditious,&#8221; with President Trump suggesting the Democrats&#8217; behavior was &#8220;punishable by DEATH.&#8221; Trump later clarified that he was not calling for the Democrats to be executed, but added, &#8220;I think they’re in serious trouble.&#8221;
When the War Department launched its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/war-department-reviewing-serious-allegations-against-sen-mark-kelly-after-dem-military-message?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=War+Department+Reviewing+%E2%80%98Serious+Allegations%E2%80%99+Against+Sen.+Mark+Kelly+After+Dem+Military+Message">review</a> of Kelly&#8217;s participation in the video last November, it cited a military code that makes it a crime “to interfere with, impair, or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military or naval forces of the United States” and “to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any member of the military or naval forces of the United States.”
The Justice Department also sought to bring charges against all six Democrats involved, but earlier this week, a federal grand jury <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/grand-jury-refuses-to-indict-dem-lawmakers-over-video-urging-military-to-disobey-illegal-orders">declined</a> to sign off on an indictment. The other Democrats involved in the controversial video include Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Reps. Chrissy Houlahan and Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania. All of the Democrats who helped make the video are military veterans or former members of the intelligence community.
The video was released as Democrats — and some Republicans — condemned President Trump&#8217;s authorization of strikes against suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea.
This article has been updated with additional information.

Mark Kelly/Pete Hegseth

Federal Judge Deals Another Blow To Trump Admin’s Effort To Punish Dems Over ‘Illegal Orders’ Video

Federal Judge Deals Another Blow To Trump Admin's Effort To Punish Dems Over 'Illegal Orders' Video

Democrats

Mark Kelly

War Secretary Pete Hegseth <a href="https://x.com/rebekazeljko/status/2020998100072964167">gave a characteristically blunt answer</a> Monday when asked about the “choke points” in the defense production pipeline.
“You identified several policy changes the department was implementing to actually speed up and expedite some of the production,” a reporter said to Hegseth. “I was wondering, what are the specific choke points that you guys have encountered when it comes to regulations? What are the issues, what&#8217;s the hang-up at some of these production facilities, why have we seen delays on certain projects?”
“A lot of the hang-up has been us,” Hegseth acknowledged. “If we don&#8217;t look at ourselves first, the way we do business, we&#8217;ve been impossible to deal with. A bad customer who year after year changes our mind about what we want or what we don&#8217;t want, and then we make little, small technological changes, which makes it more difficult for them to produce what they need to produce on time.”
“So we have to fix our own house first,” he declared, “provide clarity, simplify the system, allow more people to access it, give that steady demand signal, which is what we&#8217;re doing with munitions. I encourage folks to look at the deals we&#8217;ve cut recently with Raytheon, with Boeing, with other companies, Lockheed, on Patriot missiles, on THAADs [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems], on other exquisite munitions. That&#8217;s groundbreaking stuff.&#8221;
“Our department&#8217;s never done that,” he continued. “The Deputy Secretary, Steve Feinberg, is a whiz kid on these things, putting these deals together. The companies are investing because they know we&#8217;re going to be buying into the future. That&#8217;s just good business. We haven&#8217;t operated that well that way before. And then things like requirements, there&#8217;s mazes of requirements that this department has traditionally put on different systems and platforms that are impossible to navigate and by the time you navigate them, you&#8217;re five years behind the actual technology.”
“So we&#8217;re going to companies and say, ‘Tell us what you can do based on the parameters of what kind of capabilities we&#8217;re looking for, say, in Indopaycom or Southcom or out in Europe, and let&#8217;s tailor it accordingly,’” he concluded.
The U.S. Army recently finalized a <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/land/2025/09/03/us-army-awards-lockheed-record-98-billion-missile-contract/">multibillion-dollar</a> deal with Lockheed Martin for the production of PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors. This month, Raytheon <a href="https://www.rtx.com/news/news-center/2026/02/04/rtxs-raytheon-partners-with-department-of-war-on-five-landmark-agreements-to-exp">signed</a> five framework agreements with the U.S. Department of War to significantly increase production capacity and accelerate deliveries of several high-demand systems.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

‘We’ve Been Impossible To Deal With’: Hegseth Vows To Fix Pentagon’s ‘Bad Customer’ Behavior

Department of Defense

Military

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stood before the Washington Monument on Monday to administer the oath of enlistment to more than 100 National Guard members, marking a significant milestone for the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force. The troops, representing nine states including Alabama, Florida, and Oklahoma, are part of a 2,600-strong contingent deployed to the capital following President Donald Trump’s August 2025 &#8220;crime emergency&#8221; declaration.
Hegseth hailed the mission as a historic success, saying the Task Force transformed Washington from a city of &#8220;lawlessness and graffiti&#8221; into a &#8220;national symbol of order.&#8221; The mission utilizes a dual-track approach:
<ul>
<li>Aggressive Security: National Guard units, such as Task Force Yellow Hammer and Joint Task Force Magnolia, conduct joint patrols alongside local and federal law enforcement to secure transit hubs and neighborhoods, like Foggy Bottom.</li>
<li>Urban Restoration: Beyond security operations, task force teams have removed more than 500 tons of debris and conducted major snow-clearing efforts to keep federal sites &#8220;pristine.&#8221;</li>
</ul>
Hegseth noted that while recruitment numbers are at a one-year high, strong retention rates among these Guard members are the true indicator of the War Department&#8217;s success.
&#8220;When you reenlist, it means we are doing things the right way,&#8221; Hegseth remarked, emphasizing that the military has the backs of those performing these &#8220;tough missions.&#8221;
Soldiers like Sgt. Christian N. Brown and Master Sgt. Michael E. Eschenfelder expressed deep pride in the mission. Eschenfelder, a 36-year veteran, noted that while his unit typically handles disaster response, such as hurricanes, the shift to urban security has been met with public gratitude, with residents reporting that they &#8220;can feel that everything is relaxing.&#8221;
The ceremony also carried a somber note of sacrifice. Hegseth announced Purple Hearts would be awarded to Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, posthumously, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, who were shot during a November 2025 ambush at a D.C. Metro station. The attack underscored the administration’s justification for the federal takeover, which continues to face legal challenges from local D.C. officials over &#8220;Home Rule&#8221; violations.
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, Hegseth said the presence of the &#8220;men and women who defend the laws&#8221; is exactly what the nation&#8217;s capital deserves. The mission has been extended through at least February 28, 2026.

US-SPACE-DEFENSE

Hegseth Swears In Guard Troops To Clean Up D.C. As ‘Safe And Beautiful’ Mission Continues

Washington D.C.

Last month, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made a seismic <a href="https://x.com/SecWar/status/2012302240594170106" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a>: &#8220;We&#8217;re taking a sledgehammer to the oldest DEI program in the federal government. A program few people outside of Washington have ever heard of. That I haven&#8217;t heard of. It&#8217;s called the 8(a) program.&#8221;
We&#8217;re confident that Daily Wire readers knew about the program: Our own investigative reporter Luke Rosiak <a href="https://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/6/e/6e1b9b58-ff59-48e1-ba7a-3baf8c80fdd3/0A2A02F0F82887A517B8056DA86CE02F8EB6D4405302E38F039CACF58B354005.rosiak-testimony.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> to the Senate about the fraud-ridden, multi-billion dollar minority contracting scheme just a month earlier. He&#8217;s written about it <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-quarter-of-minority-contracting-firms-banned-after-refusing-anti-fraud-check" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extensively</a> for years. Under the decades-old 8(a) program, 5% of all federal contracts are &#8220;set aside&#8221; for minority- and women-owned businesses. That&#8217;s right — instead of a competitive process that identifies the best company with the best value, government officials direct contracts to specific companies, with no bidding at all, based on minority status.
As Rosiak told the Senate, it opens the door to sordid corruption. When black businessman Walter Barnes got <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/usaid-official-three-contractors-plead-guilty-to-half-billion-dollar-bribery-scheme" target="_blank" rel="noopener">half a billion dollars</a> in USAID contracts by bribing a government procurement official with $1 million, the contracting officer was able to guarantee he could make good on the bribe only because the 8(a) program gave him that discretion.
We don&#8217;t know if Hegseth was tuned in for Rosiak&#8217;s testimony, but Hegseth laid out the issue as clearly as anyone.
&#8220;In the Pentagon, $100 million sole-source contracts go out the door to these 8(a) firms almost every day,&#8221; Hegseth explained, &#8220;without any competition or opportunity for anyone else to bid.&#8221;
Hegseth continued: &#8220;In many, many instances, these socially disadvantaged businesses don&#8217;t even do work. They take a 10%, 20%, sometimes 50% fee off the top, then pass the contract off to a giant consulting firm, commonly known as Beltway Bandits. For decades, this program, 8(a), has been a breeding ground for fraud.&#8221;
He&#8217;s talking about the Capital Beltway that surrounds Washington, D.C., where the biggest players in the government contracting business have learned to make hay out of 8(a). You see, rather than fighting only for direct contracts, the contractors based in D.C.&#8217;s suburbs have learned that they can also seek the business of the minority middlemen.
This process is flagrant. In Dulles Airport&#8217;s Terminal C, there&#8217;s a giant advertisement from an 8(a) firm, seeking companies to &#8220;partner&#8221; with. What it&#8217;s saying is that if a company like Deloitte wants to get a giant contract, it should cut the 8(a) in on the deal. The minority firm will submit a &#8220;joint venture&#8221; or &#8220;mentor-protege&#8221; application, letting government officials know with a wink and a nod that it will be Deloitte doing the work.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
We are taking a sledgehammer to the oldest DEI program in the federal government—the 8(a) program. <a href="https://t.co/c9iH8gcqG7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/c9iH8gcqG7</a>
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar/status/2012302240594170106?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">January 16, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
It works for everyone but taxpayers. The Beltway Bandit gets the contract without having to beat its rivals on price. A random minority gets a massive payday for brokering it. And the bureaucrats don&#8217;t have to go through the hassle of a competitive bidding process — they can just send the money immediately out the door.
Perhaps some government employees are overpaid, but contractors are milking the taxpayers for orders of magnitude more.
As Rosiak told the Senate, a man named Atul Kathuria bought one of the most expensive homes in the D.C. region after getting $43 million in no-bid contracts because he is&#8230; wait for it&#8230; a person from the country of India working in IT. He is no &#8220;slumdog millionaire&#8221; — he went to Georgetown University and worked at massive consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton before shattering the glass ceiling to become the first Indian IT guy.
The Small Business Administration is in charge of determining who gets the sought-after &#8220;socially disadvantaged&#8221; superpowers, and its leader Kelly Loeffler has made serious strides at attacking the fraud. She required 8(a)s to turn over an unprecedented amount of information, down to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-just-ordered-beneficiaries-of-the-largest-dei-program-to-turn-over-all-financial-records?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Orders+All+Beneficiaries+Of+The+Largest+DEI+Program+To+Turn+Over+Internal+Financial+Records" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bank account statements</a> and payroll records. The payroll records alone will be enough to prove that many of these companies are merely shells.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-crack-down-on-minority-contracting-schemes-d-c-s-worst-kept-secret" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE:</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-crack-down-on-minority-contracting-schemes-d-c-s-worst-kept-secret" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Feds Crack Down On Minority Contracting Schemes, D.C.’s Worst-Kept Secret</a>
But the Department of War getting in on 8(a) reform is where the real money is. As Hegseth said, the Pentagon gives out 10 times as many 8(a) contracts as the next-largest agency. That&#8217;s because the Pentagon can give out up to $100 million contracts without competitive bidding if the business is &#8220;disadvantaged,&#8221; while at other agencies the limit is $4.5 million or $7 million.
A constellation of fly-by-night brokerage firms has sprung up to cash in on this — one or two black men, or even white women, who get contracts and &#8220;partner&#8221; with other companies to do the work. But the most notorious offenders are so-called &#8220;Super 8(a)s,&#8221; which can engage in even more seedy business dealings because, in the government&#8217;s eye, their owners have been even more oppressed: Those owned by Native American firms or Alaskan native tribes.
Here, again, we see how 8(a) is the Swamp that Donald Trump warned about. Alaska&#8217;s senators, both Republicans, are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alaska-republicans-secretly-working-to-protect-fraud-plagued-dei-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secretly lobbying</a> to preserve the DEI program–calling it, perversely, &#8220;conservative&#8221; and &#8220;market-based.&#8221;
We asked Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan how many people who worked at so-called &#8220;Alaskan&#8221; companies were actually Alaskan, and they wouldn&#8217;t say. These are firms like Bowhead, a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate whose <a href="https://www.bowhead.com/executive-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leadership</a> is about as indigenous as Elizabeth Warren.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1026861" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/bowhead-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1535" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/bowhead-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/bowhead-300x180.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/bowhead-961x576.jpg 961w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/bowhead-768x460.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/bowhead-1536x921.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/bowhead-2048x1228.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></div>
&#8220;There are skyscrapers down the street in Tysons Corner, defense contractors working on advanced weapons, that don&#8217;t have to bid competitively for contracts because we say they&#8217;re Alaskan Native Corporations,&#8221; Rosiak testified to the Senate. &#8220;But every one of us here knows there aren’t native Alaskans in those buildings.&#8221;
The Alaskan senators gave away the game when they defended the program by praising the &#8220;flexibility&#8221; the 8(a) program offers.
&#8220;We consistently hear from top Pentagon officials that the 8(a) Program provides flexibility and timeliness in procuring weapons systems that strengthen our country,&#8221; they said.
At least they&#8217;re being honest. The purpose of 8(a) isn&#8217;t to help minorities, it&#8217;s to help lazy bureaucrats steer millions to big companies without having to fill out the paperwork.
If doing government procurement the right way takes too long, then fix that. But the 8(a) program must be abolished by Congress. Trying to stop the fraud is a fool&#8217;s errand; fraudsters will simply find more clever ways to hide the fact that they&#8217;re simply subcontracting out most of the work.
The courts have recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-lawsuit-could-topple-the-heart-of-race-based-federal-programs?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=New+Lawsuit+Could+Topple+The+Heart+Of+Race-Based+Federal+Programs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made clear</a> that automatic racial preferences in contracting are illegal, a development celebrated by conservative lawyers. But if you ask us, it only makes the problem worse: The set-asides for &#8220;disadvantaged&#8221; companies are still enshrined in law, so now they&#8217;re awarded based on an even more vague and arbitrary system. We kid you not, companies can get no-bid contracts if they write an essay describing how they have been victims.
It&#8217;s time for Congress to scrap the antiquated, failed 8(a) laws. It has gone on for long enough, and thanks to Hegseth and reporters exposing the waste, America is onto the scam.

Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth Holds Pentagon Press Conference On Iran Strikes

Why Pete Hegseth Is Right To Take A ‘Sledgehammer’ To The 8(a) Scam

Pete Hegseth's 'Sledgehammer' To 

Lisa Murkowski

Minority Contracting

The Department of War gave an ultimatum to Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, to roll back its woke policies and DEI initiatives or lose its continued partnership with the military.
“From Day One at the War Department, we have made it very clear: No more DEI at DoW. Zero tolerance,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell shared in a statement posted to X. He went on to say that the department had been “reviewing its relationship” with the Boy Scouts after the organization had “lost its way.” 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
STATEMENT:
From Day One at the War Department, we have made it very clear: No more DEI at DoW. Zero tolerance.
As a result, over the past several months, the Department of War has been reviewing its relationship with Scouting America—formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America.…
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanParnellASW/status/2018495511360053609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“[F]or more than a decade now, Scouting America&#8217;s leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration and this Department of War, including an embrace of DEI and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances. This is unacceptable,” the statement continued. 
He said their partnership with scouts, including support of the National Jamboree celebration, was in jeopardy, but now they are “near a final agreement&#8221; as Scouting America has “firmly committed to a return to core principles. Back to God and country—immediately!”
The statement concluded that Scouting America will continue to partner with the Department of War, provided it “rapidly implements” common sense reforms. “They are on the clock, and we are watching,” the post warned. 
Scouting America provided a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/03/hegseth-boy-scouts-scouting-america/">statement</a> to the Washington Post Tuesday evening, saying, “For nearly 116 years Scouting has stood as a cornerstone of American ideals, good citizenship, service, and adventure for American youth. We are encouraged by tonight’s social media post by the Pentagon, and we look forward to providing more details as we move ahead.”
In November, NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/11/25/nx-s1-5615164/pentagon-scouting-hegseth-cut-ties">reported</a> that the Defense Department was planning to cut funding and support to Scouting America due to it becoming an organization designed to &#8220;attack boy-friendly spaces.” The documents allegedly criticized the organization for promoting DEI principles. One memo quoted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as saying, &#8220;The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys.&#8221;
The Boy Scouts have long served as a natural bridge to the military. The Pentagon formally backed the organization beginning in 1937, supplying trucks, doctors, medics, logistical support, and even aviation demonstrations at the National Jamboree. For the military, it doubled as a valuable recruiting channel: Eagle Scouts routinely entered at higher ranks, and about 20% of service-academy cadets came from scouting backgrounds.
But that reputation changed over the years. The group rebranded itself from Boy Scouts to Scouts BSA in 2018 and became “Scouting America” in 2025. This was all in an effort to allow girls to join and be more inclusive, but ultimately led to drastic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boy-scouts-want-to-include-everyone-but-now-no-one-wants-to-join?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Boy+Scouts+Want+To+Include+Everyone%2C+But+Now+No+One+Wants+To+Join">membership drops</a>.

Boy Scouts

Hegseth’s War Department Says Boy Scouts Must Roll Back Woke Or Lose Military Support

Pentagon Says Boy Scouts Will Roll Back Woke Policies, DEI Initiatives

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Wokeness

WASHINGTON—The War Department is monitoring efforts by Virginia Democrats to potentially cripple the Virginia Military Institute, The Daily Wire can first report.
Cadets at VMI, the nation&#8217;s first state-sponsored and supported military college, have grown increasingly anxious about the fate of their institution since Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger entered office and <a href="https://virginiabusiness.com/spanberger-names-27-new-university-board-members/">appointed</a> former Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to VMI&#8217;s Board of Visitors.
Northam <a href="https://www.schev.edu/Home/Components/News/News/154/">had ordered an audit</a> into alleged racism and sexism at VMI in 2021, amid the Democrat-led wave of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion measures in universities across the nation — measures supported by then-President Joe Biden and his administration.
Now, Virginia Democrats suggest that the military institution is still rife with racism, sexism, and cultural barriers. They proposed two measures taking aim at the school: their proposed House Bill 1377 establishes a task force evaluating whether VMI should still be funded by the state, and House Bill 1374 would end VMI&#8217;s Board of Visitors and give the state full oversight of the institution.
Revoking VMI&#8217;s state funding would likely lead to the school&#8217;s demise.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Daily Wire on Tuesday that the War Department &#8220;reserves the right to take extraordinary measures to protect the integrity of VMI.&#8221;
&#8220;Our commitment to the cadets and midshipmen currently training there remains steadfast,&#8221; he said.
Some state representatives who support the measures, like Democrat Michael Feggans of Virginia Beach, point to VMI&#8217;s roots in the Civil War, arguing that the institution has buildings on campus named for Confederate military figures.
“For VMI to flourish into the future, it must be allowed to move unfettered by the ghosts of the past, ghosts rooted in efforts to keep this country divided,&#8221; Feggans <a href="https://www.progress-index.com/story/news/local/2026/02/02/parade-of-speakers-ask-house-panel-to-block-vsu-taking-over-vmi/88476161007/">said during a Monday subcommittee meeting</a> on the matter.
Democrat state Rep. Dan Helmer of Fairfax, frustrated that VMI did not renew the contract of VMI&#8217;s first black superintendent, <a href="https://virginiamercury.com/2026/01/27/bills-targeting-vmi-governance-gain-traction-in-general-assembly/">told one local outlet</a>: &#8220;For those of us, like me, who care deeply about service and care deeply about producing leaders of character, we need to ensure that VMI has turned the page.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1037751" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/?attachment_id=1037751" rel="attachment wp-att-1037751"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1037751" class="wp-image-1037751 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2256250118-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2256250118-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2256250118-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2256250118-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2256250118.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" /></a>Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger watches the Corps. of Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)</div>
Parnell shared with The Daily Wire on Tuesday that the Pentagon is specifically monitoring Virginia House Bill 1374 &#8220;with significant concern.&#8221;
&#8220;For generations, the unique military environment at VMI has made the institute a vital source of commissioned officers for the Armed Forces,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The stability of this proven leadership pipeline is a matter of direct national security interest and any action that could disrupt the ecosystem requires our full attention.&#8221;
Emphasizing the Trump administration&#8217;s commitment to the cadets and midshipmen training at VMI, Parnell promised that the War Department has the right to take the &#8220;extraordinary measures&#8221; to protect the institution.
&#8220;We urge the Virginia General Assembly to consider the broader implications of this bill on military readiness, as well as the federal government&#8217;s long-standing investment in this critical institution,&#8221; he said.
Parnell&#8217;s words will come as a relief to cadets and their families who have watched the developments of the last few weeks with concern.
Michael Ferrara, a VMI student, told Fox News in late January that he chose the school because he wanted to serve his country. He and his fellow cadets are proud of the long legacy of accomplished fighters that have emerged from VMI: &#8220;We&#8217;ve had approximately 300 generals and flag officers coming from the Virginia Military Institute. We&#8217;ve had seven Medal of Honor recipients, 11 Rhodes Scholars, one Nobel Prize winner.&#8221;
Ferrara and his roommate, Devin Auzenne, brushed aside allegations that VMI is not inclusive enough.
&#8220;My two roommates, they look nothing like me, come from completely different places, worship different gods,&#8221; said Auzenne. &#8220;My roommates &#8230; these are the people who I can call my brothers, my family, my friends, and anytime I ever need them, they&#8217;ll always be here for me. I can say VMI is the most inclusive environment that I have ever been a part of.&#8221;

DOD Secretary Hegseth And Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Caine Brief On Iran Strike

Trump Admin Says It Will Fight Virginia Dems To Save Historic Military College

abigail spanberger

Virginia

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