A group of Senate Democrats will be sending a letter Thursday demanding that President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reverse recent policies "that seek to erase records of the historic accomplishments of our troops" amid the administration's removal of online material about women, minority and LGBTQ+ service members and veterans.
The four lawmakers signed onto the letter are Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois; Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut; and Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, both of Arizona -- all veterans who serve on the Senate Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs committees. They cited content about record-breaking female aviators, World War II Navajo Code Talkers, medal recipients in segregated combat units, and "numerous other wartime sacrifices by soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen" as being removed during the purge, according to the letter obtained by Military.com.
Late last month, Hegseth ordered the services to scrub articles, photos and videos that promote "diversity, equity and inclusion," or DEI, within a week, which has resulted in the removal of the wide variety of content, as well as a story about baseball legend Jackie Robinson's Army service that was then restored Wednesday following public backlash.
The senators found it "especially unacceptable" that Arlington National Cemetery scrubbed information about Black, Hispanic and female troops from its "Notable Graves" website, according to the letter.
As of Wednesday, it appeared that biographies previously removed from the cemetery's site were restored, a common trend amid the purge after agencies and military components rushed to comply with the order and were met with disapproval from lawmakers, veterans groups and the public.
The result has been a confusing and inconsistent landscape of inactive webpages that are sometimes restored, while others remain inaccessible.
"We object to the department removing from the public record stories that feature extraordinary achievements of warriors and veterans," the letter states. "We urge you to promptly reverse these indiscriminate, sweeping actions seeking to erase the legacy of our service members."
Military.com previously reported that material related to the Code Talkers; Medal of Honor recipients and women who served during the Civil War, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War were removed from various service or Pentagon websites in the last month.
Some material, such as a Pentagon story about Army Maj. Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers, a Medal of Honor recipient, had been restored as of Wednesday, but others related to women or Native Americans posted during cultural awareness months were still removed. The letters "DEI" were added to some of the dead URLs.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that some webpages for the Code Talkers and other Native American veterans were restored, though it noted "any that also mention Native American Heritage Month remain down" and thousands of other pages about diverse groups of service members and veterans are still inactive.
On Wednesday, Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot, referencing Robinson, the Code Talkers, Tuskegee Airmen and Marines at Iwo Jima, issued a statement saying that, "in the rare cases that content is removed -- either deliberately or by mistake -- that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period."
"We do not view or highlight them through the prism of immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or sex," he added. "We do so only by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission like ever [sic] other American who has worn the uniform."
The removal of such sites following Pentagon guidance last month to embark on a "digital content refresh," according to a memo Hegseth signed, "resulted in the erasure of important American stories of heroism of current and past service members," the lawmakers said.
They argued that "removing these records exacerbates an already concerning recruiting crisis, undermines morale across the Joint Force, and betrays our nation's commitment to honoring the service of veterans."
They added that "these shortsighted actions" would discourage eligible Americans from signing up for the military because it sends "a message that they will not be welcomed in the armed forces." They also alleged that the purge creates division in the ranks, and adversaries would look to capitalize on that discord.
"Finally, your administration claims to support warriors and Veterans, but these needless actions undermine a basic commitment to our heroes in uniform – that their sacrifices in service of Americans will be appropriately honored and remembered," the letter said. "Public celebration of those military officers and enlisted service members who made extraordinary contributions to the military and the American people is the least we owe them and their family, friends and communities."
On Jan. 29, Trump issued an executive order directing the military to get rid of programs, offices and initiatives related to what the administration refers to as DEI. Over the following month, services began removing websites highlighting those programs or historical references to diverse groups, in some cases having to add them back later.
"We are encouraged by steps the department has taken to reinstate some of these webpages, including the page highlighting Charles C. Rogers, the Medal of Honor recipient, and Air Force training websites related to the Tuskegee Airmen," the letter said, citing an early example of one of the services reversing course on removals. "However, we remain concerned that these efforts to correct the record are ad hoc, reactive and insufficient."
Trump's executive order was followed by a policy from Hegseth in January that banned government funds and recognition for cultural awareness months such as Black History Month and Women's History Month, declaring that "identity months [are] dead at [the] DoD."
The lawmakers demanded that Trump and Hegseth respond to their letter by April 1 with information about specific guidance the services have received on archiving material as they apply to the Federal Records Act, a law that requires the government to maintain documents; how many man-hours and the cost required to purge the material; and when the material would be restored.
When asked whether Duckworth expects the administration to respond by that date and, should it not, what other mechanisms the lawmakers have to reverse the policies outlined in their letter, a spokesperson for the senator said she "has already pledged to be a blanket 'no' vote on all cabinet-level nominees in protest of the Trump administration's lawlessness and she will continue to consider other ways she can apply pressure on the administration until they restore these website pages that should have never been taken down in the first place."
Related: Defense Department Webpage on Jackie Robinson Goes Down, Then Returns amid Diversity Purge
