Pentagon Reverses Course After Excluding Mormons from 'Christian' Category in Military Chaplain Reform

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Pentagon announced a sweeping consolidation of military religious affiliation codes, cutting the list from more than 200 to 31 categories, framed as a modernization effort to help chaplains allocate resources more efficiently. The initial list included the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but did not classify it as 'Christian,' unlike Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and numerous Protestant denominations. Utah Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis, both LDS members and typically close Trump allies, publicly condemned the omission over the weekend, with Lee calling it 'repugnant' and arguing the government had no business adjudicating theological disputes. The Pentagon walked back the list on Monday, stating the original contained 'redundant and unnecessary labeling,' and issued a revised version that dropped the 'Christian' umbrella label from all denominations rather than adding it to LDS. Critics from the left and legal scholars noted that the broader consolidation also eliminated recognition for atheists, Wiccans, Unitarians, Native American faiths, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and dozens of other traditions, raising First Amendment concerns. The controversy has highlighted deeper fractures within the conservative religious coalition, with some observers noting that Secretary Hegseth belongs to a Christian nationalist denomination, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, whose founder Doug Wilson has explicitly stated that Mormons are not Christians and has preached at the Pentagon at Hegseth's invitation.