Pentagon cuts 180 faiths from military recognition list — here's what remains
Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. The hearing is set to examine the Department of Defense 2027 budget request. Photographer: Daniel Heuer/Bloomb
WASHINGTON - The Department of War has reduced its list of officially recognized religions by 180 entries, following a policy change announced earlier by War Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to FOX News.
The backstory:
Previously, the U.S. Military Chaplain Corps maintained more than 200 faith codes that service members could use to identify their religious affiliation. According to Military.com, that number has now been cut to 31 under a memo issued Thursday by Undersecretary of Defense Anthony Tata.
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What they're saying:
In the memo, Tata said the change will "streamline the DoW collection of religious preferences for service members to enhance the delivery of targeted religious support from the Chaplaincy."
He further explained that "The new list will provide chaplains with clear, readily available information that will better enable them to anticipate the religious support needs of service members and to provide religious support activities that align with service members’ personal faith and practices."
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Dig deeper:
The revised list continues to recognize Agnostics, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and several Christian denominations, including Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, and Methodists, Military.com reported.
Hegseth first revealed plans to reduce the number of recognized faith codes earlier this year.
"The previous system had ballooned to well over 200 faith codes.… It was impractical and unusable, and many codes were never used at all," Hegseth said in March. He also noted that most military personnel identified with only six of those faith categories.
Big picture view:
The Pentagon simultaneously announced another change affecting military chaplains, directing them to wear religious insignia in place of rank insignia.
"A chaplain is first and foremost a chaplain, and an officer second. This change is a visual representation of that fact," Hegseth said in a March statement.
He added, "Specifically unique to the role of a chaplain, they are first and foremost called and ordained by God. And, while they will retain rank as an officer to those they serve, their rank will not be visible."
The Source: FOX News contributed to this report. The information in this story comes primarily from a memo issued by Undersecretary of Defense Anthony Tata outlining changes to the Department of War's religious affiliation system, as reported by Military.com. This story was reported from Los Angeles.