advisory

Sept. 24 (UPI) — The Trump administration has terminated the nearly 75-year-old advisory committee aimed at encouraging and retaining women in the armed forces over accusations of promoting a “divisive feminist agenda,” Pentagon officials said.

The decision to disband the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services was made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a Tuesday statement on X.

“The committee is focused on advancing a divisive feminist agenda that hurts combat readiness, while Secretary Hegseth has focused on advancing uniform, sex-neutral standards across the department,” she said.

Joel Valdez, Department of Defense acting deputy press secretary, defended the decision to disband DACOWITS, suggesting online that the committee was no longer needed.

“The panel, DACOWITS, existed during the last administration’s recruitment and retention crisis,” he said on X.

“With female recruitment numbers soaring under President Trump @SecWar’s leadership, it is clear that DACOWITS is not the reason women are joining the military.”

The Pentagon added: “We are cleansing the Department of wokeness.”

The committee was established in 1951, making it one of the Defense Department’s oldest advisory bodies. According to its website, it is composed of civilian women and men appointed by the Defense secretary to advise on matters and policies related to the recruitment, retention, employment, integration and well-being of women in the military.

Its disbandment comes as the Trump administration conducts a cultural overhaul of the military, in an effort to remove so-called left-leaning ideology.

Among the changes imposed by Hegseth are grooming standards to be clean-shaven and “neat in presentation,” banning transgender Americans from serving in the armed forces, tightening restrictions on media coverage and eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, among others.

It has also signaled a cultural transformation through promoting a so-called warrior ethos as counter to a “woke” culture as well as renaming military bases after Confederate soldiers who fought against the United States in the Civil War.

He has also attempted to rename the Department of Defense the department of war, a change that requires congressional approval.

During his confirmation hearings, Hegseth came under Democratic criticism for sexual misconduct, which he denied, as well as for saying that women should not serve in combat roles in the U.S. military.

The AI company’s new council comes a month after the Pentagon signed a deal with several AI companies to develop tools for defence.

The artificial intelligence company Anthropic launched a National Security and Public Sector Advisory Council in efforts to deepen ties with Washington and allied governments as AI becomes increasingly central to defence.

The San Francisco-based start-up announced the new panel on Wednesday.

The council’s launch underscores AI firms’ growing efforts to shape policies and ensure their technology supports democratic interests amid global competition.

Anthropic’s new effort comes as rivals, such as OpenAI and Google DeepMind, step up engagement with governments and regulators on AI safety, though neither has announced a dedicated national security advisory council.

Anthropic’s council brings together former senators and senior officials from the US Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, as well as the Departments of Energy and Justice.

It will advise Anthropic on integrating AI into sensitive government operations while shaping standards for security, ethics and compliance.

Its members include Roy Blunt, a former senator and intelligence committee member, David S Cohen, a former deputy CIA director, and Richard Fontaine, who leads the Center for a New American Security.

Other appointees held top legal and nuclear security roles across Republican and Democratic administrations.

Anthropic said the group will advise on high-impact applications in cybersecurity, intelligence analysis and scientific research, while helping set industry standards for responsible AI use.

The company plans to expand the council as partnerships with public-sector institutions grow.

Last month, the Pentagon established a $200m programme to develop AI tools for defence, highlighting the sector’s push to balance innovation with security risks. The initiative reflects intensifying global competition over AI capabilities, with Washington seeking to maintain an edge against rivals, such as China and Russia.

The effort, which includes Anthropic, OpenAI, Alphabet – Google’s parent company, and xAI – the AI company championed by Elon Musk.

A majority of Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted against the 2024 compensation package given to Chief Executive David Zaslav and other executives at the company’s annual meeting Monday, according to a regulatory filing.

Almost 60% of the votes cast came in against the 2024 executive pay package at the company, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. The vote is nonbinding.

In a statement, the board said it “takes the results of the annual advisory vote on executive compensation seriously,” adding it “looks forward to continuing its regular practice of engaging in constructive dialog with our shareholders.”

Zaslav, 65, earned $51.9 million last year in salary, stock awards and other compensation. Shares of Warner Bros. declined 7.1% in 2024, while the S&P 500 index gained 23%.

Warner Bros. reported first-quarter financial results that missed Wall Street’s estimates last month. The company recently reorganized into two business units, fueling speculation it may split off cable TV networks like CNN and TNT into a separate company. The entertainment giant took a $9.1 billion writedown to reflect the declining value of its traditional TV networks last year.

Zaslav, who merged Discovery with WarnerMedia in 2022 to create Warner Bros. Discovery, has drawn criticism during his tenure as CEO. He recently changed the name of the company’s Max streaming service back to HBO Max after an unsuccessful brand overhaul. The company also announced it is launching a new online video service built around CNN, three years after canceling the short-lived CNN+ streaming service.

Miller writes for Bloomberg.