New DoD Bill Scraps Chief Diversity Officer, Eliminates DEI Requirements Across Military Selection Boards

The “Restoring Lethality Act” is a short, sharp piece of legislation aimed squarely at eliminating all statutory requirements for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the Department of Defense (DoD).

In plain terms, this bill completely scrubs the books of almost every law mandating the military focus on, measure, or report on diversity. It’s not just tweaking the programs; it’s removing the legal foundation for them. This includes striking out references to demographic breakdowns like gender, race, and ethnicity from the Secretary of Defense’s required reporting, effectively removing the legal mandate to track those metrics across various DoD functions.

The End of the DEI Infrastructure

This bill takes a sledgehammer to the DoD’s existing diversity infrastructure. First up, it completely repeals the position of Chief Diversity Officer for the DoD, eliminating the top-level executive role responsible for these efforts. It also repeals the strategic plans and the roles of senior advisors for diversity and inclusion across the military departments and the Coast Guard. Think of it as shutting down the entire corporate office responsible for ensuring fair hiring and promotion practices.

For service members, particularly those from historically underrepresented backgrounds, the biggest change hits the promotion pipeline. The bill removes language that previously required promotion selection boards to reflect the diversity of the armed forces “to the extent practicable.” This means that while selection boards could still be diverse, there is no longer a legal requirement to even consider diversity when forming them. This change affects who gets promoted and how those decisions are made, potentially making the process less transparent for those looking to see if their service is being rewarded equitably.

Training and Correspondence Changes

Beyond the structural changes, the bill also mandates specific changes to training and internal communication. It repeals the requirement to identify gender or personal pronouns in official correspondence. For individuals who rely on these standards for recognition and respect within the military system, this provision removes an established policy.

In a shift for required human relations training, the bill strikes out the previous topics and mandates that training must now specifically include honor, excellence, courage, and commitment. This refocuses mandatory training exclusively on core military values, replacing any previous requirements related to diversity or inclusion topics.

What This Means on the Ground

If you’re a junior officer or enlisted service member, the immediate effect is the complete removal of institutional checks and balances designed to ensure equitable treatment. For example, if a selection board now appears overwhelmingly homogeneous, there is no longer a statutory basis to challenge that composition based on diversity requirements. The removal of demographic reporting requirements means the DoD will no longer be legally obligated to show the public or Congress how diverse its leadership ranks are, making it harder to spot systemic issues.

In short, the “Restoring Lethality Act” eliminates the legal requirement for the military to actively track, measure, and promote diversity across its personnel systems, leaving those efforts entirely up to the discretion of individual commands without a statutory mandate.