Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered a review of the Defense Department's complaint process. 

The Hill reports that Hegseth gave the order last week.

He disseminated a "Memorandum for Secretaries of the Military Departments" on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. It can be read in its entirety here.

This is one of many big changes that are taking place at the Defense Department under Hegseth's leadership.

The details

Fox News details the changes that are being made to the complaint process.

It reports:

The memo directs the secretaries to ensure that complaints that "are unsubstantiated by actionable, credible evidence are timely dismissed." Additionally, "favorable actions," such as awards and promotions, involving the alleged offender are to be considered until the complaint is substantiated. Finally, the memo states that those who "knowingly submit false complaints" may face discipline.

The outlet adds that "The secretaries have 45 days to complete their reviews."

Fox goes on to note how Hegseth has been on the receiving end of numerous complaints in recent months, and the outlet suggests that this may have made his more empathetic "for those facing false or unsubstantiated allegations."

Whether this has anything to do with his decision to implement this reform is unclear.

"More reforms"

Hegseth announced the change in a video message that he posted to his social media account.

He, in part, said:

We’re back with more reforms here at DOD, and this one is one of the most important ones we’ve done. The official title is Restoring Good Order and Discipline Through Balanced Accountability — little wordy, but over the target. The real title that I call it, ‘The No More Walking on Eggshells Policy."

Hegseth went on to explain how, "too often at the Defense Department, there are complaints made for certain reasons that can’t be verified that end people’s careers. We need to reform that process completely so commanders can be commanders."

Hegseth said that, while the intentions of the programs are good, their weaponization is bad and what needs to be addressed.

He explained:

The DOD has equal opportunity programs for service members and civilians to report discrimination and harassment — that’s a good thing. But, what’s not good is when these programs are weaponized. Some individuals use these programs in bad faith to retaliate against superiors or peers; I hear it all the time. Say you receive a bad evaluation — well, file a military EO complaint; it’s nonsense and we want to fix that.