Pentagon Launches Office of Religious Affairs Reporting to Hegseth After 180 Religious Codes Removed

The Pentagon has created an Office of Religious Affairs reporting directly to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who announced it on 30 September at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia and called faith the 'most essential component of our republic'.

The new office arrives with firm fiscal deadlines. A 30 September memorandum orders the office to submit an initial 2027 baseline budget to Hegseth within 60 days. Within 90 days, the military departments must report all unfunded and underfunded religious requirements.

For the roughly 5% of US service members who identify as nonreligious, the move lands on top of a year of contraction. Hegseth told the Quantico audience that less than 5% of the joint force is nonreligious and the other 95% recognises an 'Almighty God'.

The Pentagon has not published an official religious breakdown since 2019, when January 2019 Defense Manpower Data Center data showed nearly 70% of active-duty troops were recorded as Christian and almost a quarter were listed as other, unclassified, or unknown.

What the Office Will Do

The office will serve as Hegseth's principal adviser on religious matters, secure funding and resources for religious affairs, and bring the Armed Forces Chaplains Board under its authority. An unnamed director will represent Hegseth before Congress and religious endorsing organisations. Service chaplains remain the primary providers of religious support, as the office advocates for them.

'This is not going to be a paper pushing shop,' Hegseth said. 'It's going to have real teeth. It'll protect budgets, demand infrastructure, and strengthen religious support.'

The 180 Faiths Left off the List

The launch follows Hegseth's decision, first announced in March and formalised by a May memorandum, to cut officially recognised religious affiliation codes from more than 200 to 31. The reduction removed 180 designations, among them Pagan, Wiccan, Druid, Asatru, and Unitarian Universalist. Hegseth said 82% of troops are religious, most used only six codes, and called the old system unusable.

The Unitarian Universalist Association said the change could make it harder for its members in uniform to reach the spiritual care they need. After backlash, the Pentagon reworked the list in June to remove a subheading that had grouped Christian denominations, with spokesperson Sean Parnell saying the department was not declaring any officially approved religions.

Constitutional Questions Over Funding

Critics argue the office hands government money and authority to one worldview. Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the plan elevates Christianity in military policy and breaks a 250-year promise to serve troops of every faith.

'Hegseth is advancing a Christian nationalist agenda in the military,' Laser said. Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation called the reduction an attempt to 'force only the approved solution', saying it was getting closer to Christian nationalism.

A Pattern of Faith at the Top

Hegseth, an evangelical Christian, hosts monthly prayer services at the Pentagon and has required chaplains to wear faith insignia in place of rank.

The Department of Defense says the new office will not compel religious participation, favour one faith, or diminish anyone's rights.

Whether a budget-backed office reporting to a secretary who calls the real battle 'spiritual' can hold that line is the test now facing troops of every belief, and none.