ACLU Sues Pentagon Over Hegseth's Study of Women in Combat Roles

The American Civil Liberties Union and women's rights groups sued the Pentagon on October 8, 2026, accusing the Defense Department of withholding records about a study examining the effectiveness of women in ground combat roles, amid concerns that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could use its findings to restrict their service.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, follows an August 19 request for information about the study's purpose, methodology, and potential impact on military assignments. The plaintiffs allege that the Pentagon failed to issue the determinations required under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which generally gives federal agencies 20 working days to decide whether to comply with a records request.

The Pentagon launched the six-month study in December 2025 without publicly announcing it, directing the Army and Marine Corps to provide data on operational effectiveness, readiness, and performance in ground combat units that included women. Initially assigned to the Institute for Defense Analyses, the review became public through subsequent news reporting.

Hegseth had called for combat positions to meet what he described as the "highest male standard only" during a September 2025 address to senior military officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. Military occupational standards are required to be gender-neutral, and senior enlisted leaders testified before Congress earlier in 2026 that women's integration had not compromised combat readiness.

In April 2026, the Defense Department transferred the study to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and extended its duration to one year. The lead researcher, Jane Pinelis, previously worked on a 2015 Marine Corps study that identified performance differences between male and mixed-gender combat units.

Hegseth has cited findings from that earlier research, which faced criticism over its methodology. The 2015 study examined how mixed-gender Marine units performed in combat-related tasks before the military opened all combat occupations to qualified women.

Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter opened those positions to qualified women in 2016, completing a process initiated by his predecessor, Leon Panetta, in 2013. The decision followed years of legal challenges to restrictions on women's military assignments, including litigation brought by the ACLU. Approximately 5,000 women have since served in ground combat occupations, including infantry, armor and artillery.

The records sought also include documents concerning a March 30, 2025, directive requiring military departments to develop plans addressing physical fitness standards for combat and noncombat occupations.

On September 29, the Marine Corps Training and Education Command advised the organizations that substantive processing of their request might begin in late December 2026 or mid-January 2027. The Air Force separately asked the groups to narrow the scope of their inquiry.

The plaintiffs are seeking a court order requiring the Pentagon to process their request and release records subject to applicable disclosure requirements, along with litigation costs. The case, American Civil Liberties Union et al. v. U.S. Department of Defense, No. 1:26-cv-03516, remains pending in federal court in Washington, D.C.