Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed a sweeping overhaul of the military’s inspector general (IG) complaint process, raising alarms among legal experts and whistleblower advocates who warn the move threatens independent oversight across the Department of Defense (DOD) – which the Trump administration has rebranded as the Department of War.
In a Sept. 30 memo, Hegseth ordered the secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to coordinate with the DOD Office of Inspector General to implement a series of reforms aimed at accelerating investigations, limiting repeat complaints, and tracking cases more aggressively.
The changes include a mandatory seven-day “credibility assessment” period for all complaints, with a requirement to dismiss those deemed non-credible – including those filed more than a year after the alleged incident or lacking new evidence.
Complainants found submitting repetitive or “frivolous” reports will be tracked and subject to heightened scrutiny. Hegseth also urged the use of artificial intelligence to triage complaints and manage deadlines.
The memo was released alongside 11 others under Hegseth’s broader “no more walking on eggshells” campaign, which includes efforts to revamp Equal Employment Opportunity and Military Equal Opportunity programs.
However, critics say the changes undermine the very purpose of the inspector general system.
Whistleblower Aid – a pioneering non-profit legal organization that helps government employees and private-sector workers report and expose wrongdoing – condemned Hegseth’s policy as a “coordinated assault against oversight, accountability, and lawful whistleblowers,” calling it part of a broader pattern of executive overreach.
The memo’s language does emphasize due process and efficiency, but the watchdog group says it fears that the practical effect will be to discourage disclosures, chill internal dissent, and deter whistleblowers from coming forward – especially if their anonymity cannot be guaranteed.
“This is not a procedural shift – it is a direct assault on the whistleblower disclosure and protection system,” Andrew Bakaj, former senior investigator with the Inspector General and Chief Legal Counsel at Whistleblower Aid, said in a statement.
He accused Hegseth of “gutting” the independence of IG offices by allowing military leadership to influence investigations from the top down.
“Federal employees who once had lawful, protected channels for reporting misconduct are now being told that their complaints may be ignored, their anonymity stripped, and their disclosures weaponized against them,” Bakaj said.
The overhaul also comes as Hegseth himself is under IG investigation for allegedly using an unapproved, unsecured app to transmit classified strike plans over Signal – a violation of federal communications protocols.
The move follows a series of similar efforts under the Trump administration to reshape oversight mechanisms across the federal government. At the start of his second term, President Donald Trump dismissed nearly 20 inspectors general.
More recently, the Office of Management and Budget withheld funding this week from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, the independent body that supports IG operations nationwide, a decision that has drawn criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.