Duckworth, Hirono Introduce WARRIOR Act to Codify Women’s Right to Serve in Combat

Duckworth, Hirono Introduce WARRIOR Act to Codify Women's Right to Serve in Combat

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Today, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) led 15 of their Democratic colleagues in the Senate in introducing the Women Add Resourcefulness and Resilience to Improve Operational Readiness (WARRIOR) Act, which would reinforce the principle that the U.S. military has always relied upon: standards must be based on the demands of the job, not gender. This legislation is critical for maintaining rigorous, gender-neutral standards, especially in light of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to order a study examining "the effectiveness of women in combat jobs," despite there being no evidence that the presence of women in combat units lowers standards. If passed, the WARRIOR Act would codify the commonsense DOD policy that ensures every servicemember is evaluated on validated and merit-based standards.

"Our nation would never be ready for battle without our brave women in uniform who have earned their place in our military," said Duckworth. "For all his bluster about meritocracy, Pete Hegseth continues to find slimy ways to push out warriors who have earned their right to serve. This threatens morale and readiness at every level. We must curb this Administration's moronic agenda against our women in uniform by requiring gender-neutral standards that are scientifically rigorous and prohibiting gender-based exclusion in our Armed Forces, before our military is weakened any further."

"From blocking the promotions of qualified servicewomen to ordering an unnecessary study re-examining what a decade of service has already proven, it's clear that Secretary Hegseth is more interested in attacking women service members than he is in protecting the security of our nation," said Hirono. "Building and maintaining the strongest military in the world depends on giving every qualified servicemember a fair chance to meet the required standards to serve our country. This commonsense legislation honors the service of thousands of women who have served in combat roles with distinction, while strengthening our military by ensuring that every qualified service member is judged by their ability, not their gender."

The WARRIOR Act would update outdated provisions of federal law to align with current DOD policy that ensures military occupational standards are based on validated requirements of the job and applied equally to all qualified servicemembers. This bill would codify what more than two decades of experience has already proven: maintaining rigorous, gender-neutral standards strengthens our military readiness.

Despite this long-standing tradition of merit-based promotions and standards, recent reporting revealed that Secretary Hegseth blocked the promotions of seven senior Navy officers, five of whom are women or people of color. Secretary Hegseth's unprecedented decision to overrule the promotion board means that for the first time in more than a decade, no female active-duty naval officers are likely to be promoted to admiral this year, officials said. These actions underscore the need for statutory protections to ensure that qualified servicemembers are evaluated on merit, rather than gender.

Specifically, the WARRIOR Act reinforces merit-based standards in our Armed Forces by:

1. Establishing a clear, statutory prohibition on excluding any servicemember from a military occupational specialty, career field or assignment based on gender;
2. Removing outdated language limiting protections to roles already "open to both male and female members," ensuring all positions are covered;
3. Mandating that military occupational standards reflect the actual requirements of the job, including technical, tactical, cognitive, physical abilities and requiring standards to be developed through a scientifically rigorous process;
4. Expanding Congressional review of proposed changes, including costs, data and rationale and extending the review period to 180 days and requiring the Department of Defense to submit annual reports to Congress, including:
5. 1. Changes to occupational standards,
   2. Data on involuntary reassignments and separations,
   3. Justifications for personnel decisions;
6. Requiring that servicemembers in good standing have at least 18 months to meet any new or revised standard and incorporating input from DoD medical and research experts and;
7. Mandating submission to Congress of the full, unredacted study on combat unit effectiveness ordered by the Secretary of Defense in December and requiring a follow-up review by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

In addition to Senators Duckworth and Hirono, the WARRIOR Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Patty Murray (D-WA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Ed Markey (D-MA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NY) and John Fetterman (D-PA).

The WARRIOR Act is endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), Minority Veterans of America, Women in Service Coalition Inc. (WiSCI), National Women's Law Center Action Fund, Former JAGs Working Group and Vet Voice Foundation.

Full text of the legislation is available on Senator Duckworth's website.

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