USA01 October, 20262 min read
Pete Hegseth Creates Pentagon Office of Religious Affairs After “Lord, Send Me” Speech
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Hegseth announced creation of the Office of Religious Affairs at the Pentagon. ORA will report directly to Hegseth and provide first-class religious support.
Pentagon Office of Religious Affairs
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the establishment of an Office of Religious Affairs inside the Pentagon during his “State of the Force” address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Hegseth told troops that the new office would “strengthen the moral, ethical and spiritual readiness of our warfighters,” and he said “policy and resources will serve the mission, not smother the mission.”
Hegseth said the office would report directly to him and would provide “a direct line of communication for military chaplains with his office, bypassing what he described as 'staff filters' and 'bureaucratic relief'.” Hegseth invoked scripture in the speech, saying “Lord, send me to fight the Islamists and the Communists,” and he concluded with “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”
Legal questions and chaplain control
Legal experts told HuffPost that Hegseth likely has the authority to create the office “As a matter of bureaucracy, he can probably do this,” but they said “The problem is the First Amendment.”
Rick Garnett, a law professor and director of the Notre Dame Program on Church, State & Society, said the issue depends on details, asking “Will the proposed office engage in unlawful religious coercion or discrimination?”
Hegseth’s memo did not name a specific faith, and it said “Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to compel religious participation or to diminish the free exercise rights of any Service member, civilian employee, or family member of any faith or no faith.”
The Independent quoted Americans United for Separation of Church and State president Rachel Laser saying “Hegseth’s new plan upends this to the detriment of all who serve,” while Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman said “it’s no accident” that Hegseth used the word “establish” to announce the creation of the office.
Religious makeup and backlash
The Pentagon launch came as the Pentagon reduced the number of officially recognized faith affiliations from over 200 to 31, and Military Times said Hegseth claimed less than 5% of the joint force identifies as nonreligious while the other 95% recognizes an “Almighty God.” Military Times reported that the Pentagon had not released an official report of the religious makeup of the military since 2019, when the composition of active-duty personnel was 70% Christian, 2% atheist or agnostic, and 24% reported as unclassified or unknown.
The Independent said the new list of 31 religions, culled from 200, eliminates atheism, paganism and humanist faiths, and it said 22 of the remaining faiths are Christian. Hegseth told troops that “This is not going to be a paper-pushing shop,” and he said it would “protect budgets, demand infrastructure and strengthen religious support,” while the Independent described the move as eroding the church and state firewall and violating First Amendment protections.