Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-06) has previously said that the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is a “threat to our troops, our national security and our country” and will “continue to say so until he resigns.”
Now a Chester County representative is trying a different approach: collecting names and signatures of people who agree with her.
An Air Force veteran serving in Berks and Chester counties sent an email to supporters asking them to get involved and sign the above petition.
Two weeks ago Houlahan and Rep. Maggie Goodlander (DN.H.) sent a letter to Hegseth calling recent comments about women in the military deeply harmful and demanding greater transparency. Both are military veterans and led 92 House Democrats in calling for the restoration of an independent advisory committee on women in service.
Houlahan, a ranking member of the Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Military Personnel, said Hegseth’s influence over the military is “extremely chilling.” She said one of her relatives is interested in joining the military, but her parents are “really concerned” about the environment in which she will work.
“As a woman who served in the Air Force, I am appalled by what we are seeing from our leadership,” Houlahan wrote in an email to supporters. “Before Trump took office, women made up only about 20% of our military. And that number will likely decline as Trump and his cabinet work overtime to force women out of military combat.”
“We can’t let MAGA Republicans undo decades of progress, people. I took an oath to support and defend this country and fight for what’s right, and that includes making sure Pete Hegseth resigns. But I can’t do it alone.”
Goodlander, who served as an intelligence officer in the Naval Reserve, said she recently celebrated the Navy’s 250th birthday with a room full of sea cadets and their parents. Young women who look up to our military now and their parents worry about going to a department “led by someone who should not be in such an extraordinary position of public trust,” said Goodlander, who is also a member of the Democratic Women’s Caucus.
The letter called for Hegseth to end it Defense Advisory Committee on Women in Service (DACOWITS), composed of civilian men and women designated by the Secretary of War to provide advice and recommendations on matters and policies relating to the recruitment, retention, employment, integration, welfare, and treatment of women in the United States Armed Forces.
As one of the War Department’s oldest advisory committees, DACOWITS recommendations have historically played a key role in driving changes in regulations and policies regarding women in the military. Since 1951, the Committee has submitted over 1,100 recommendations to the Secretary of War for consideration, including those regarding appropriate combat equipment for women and parental leave policies. As of 2025, the Department has adopted approximately 94% in whole or in part.
During a September 30 speech to military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Hegseth announced a novel policy requiring combat soldier positions to meet the “highest masculine standards” of physical fitness and stated that beards would be banned except for specific exceptions, such as special forces.
“This means that at the War Department, first and foremost, we must restore the absolute, impartial and commonsense application of standards,” he said. “I do not want my son to serve alongside soldiers who are not in good shape, or in combat units with women who cannot meet the same combat weapons physical standards as men, or soldiers who are not fully proficient in their assigned weapons platform or task, or under the command of a leader who was first but not the best. The standards must be uniform, gender neutral and high. If not, they are not standards. They are only suggestions, suggestions that lead to the death of our sons and daughters.
Houlahan, Goodlander and their colleagues disagreed with Hegseth’s speech and called for DACOWITS’ immediate reinstatement.
“Women have sacrificed their safety and sometimes their lives for our country, and we are deeply troubled by this administration’s attempts to attack their service. We also oppose the elimination of any resources supporting their well-being and equal treatment. Any suggestion that women are unqualified, either physically or spiritually, is a profound insult to the service women who have contributed so much to our country.”
“Throughout your speech, you suggest that women receive special treatment and cannot meet physical fitness standards, even though they have already passed grueling, gender-neutral physical and mental tests to qualify for the most strict positions in our military.
“If no changes are made by Friday, the signatories request “an in-person, member-level briefing in your office no later than November 6, 2025, to learn more about the rationale and evidence behind the elimination of such a critical committee. Be prepared to discuss and present in writing your plans to support all service members to raise the effectiveness of the Armed Forces.”
Fellow Pennsylvania Democrats Mary Gay Scanlon (D-05) i Chris Deluzio (D-17) also signed the letter to Hegseth.
