Hegseth strikes new deal with Scouts: Girls allowed for now, DEI is banned

Scouting America, the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts, will make several concessions to the Pentagon - including getting rid of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and limiting participation to those joining in their biological gender - to retain its longtime relationship with the U.S. military, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday.

In exchange, the group for now will be able to keep its name and girls will still be able to join. However, Hegseth said that Scouting America will remain under a Defense Department review.

“Ideally, I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts, as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men. Maybe someday,” Hegseth said in a social media post announcing the agreement.

Hegseth had used the threat of pulling all military support from the group - including kicking Scout troops off military bases - to force it to make changes that better align with his personal views and those of the Trump administration.

The organization has long been an important recruiting pipeline for the military services and a means for military personnel serving overseas to find support for their children. In a statement, Scouting America said the arrangement it has reached with the Pentagon will strengthen those ties by “waiving registration fees for military families, launching a new merit badge focused on military service and veterans, and reinforcing our commitment to Scouting’s foundational ideas: leadership, character, duty to God, duty to country and service.”