- President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday forming the first-ever military spouse commission.
- Jennifer Hegseth, wife of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, will chair the commission.
- Commission is tasked with helping solve military family challenges such as housing and childcare.
America can’t have the world’s strongest military without the love and support of the spouses of those in uniform.
And America’s military wives and husbands are making “extraordinary sacrifices” for the country, President Donald Trump said on Monday.
“Many military spouses spend months separated from their loved ones while our heroes are deployed overseas,” added Trump during an Oval Office signing of a presidential executive order establishing the first-ever President’s Military Spouse Commission.
The Military Spouse Commission, according to the executive order, is tasked with developing policies and “practicable actions” that will ensure “the overall well-being of military spouses” while improving the quality of life of military spouses.
Trump appointed Jennifer Hegseth, wife of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to chair the military spouse commission. Other commission officers include Trump’s deputy assistant Desiree Thompson Sayle and Christie Mullin, wife of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
Commission members will include spouses of senior military leaders from across the U.S. Armed Forces. All will serve as volunteers.
The body is being tasked with “advising and assisting” the president on policies affecting military spouses and families.
“The commission will develop suggestions to address particular challenges in housing, employment, healthcare, education, childcare, and just about everything else you can think of,” said Trump.
“We’ve never had this opportunity. We’re doing it now because we’ve done a lot for our military. We love our military.”
Trump, who serves as the military’s commander in chief, added Monday that his One Big Beautiful Bill Act provides “hundreds of millions of dollars” for military childcare and improved housing on military bases.
“The commission will help ensure we continue to give military spouses our very best so our military can continue to be the strongest military anywhere in the world — and we’re proving that,” said Trump.
“As you know, we had a conflict with Venezuela; worked out very well. And we have a conflict with Iran — and that’s working out very well.”
The American conflict with Iran began last February. The conflict continues — and Trump said Monday that planned talks with Tehran are the “last chance” for Iran to reach a deal and avoid escalated fighting.
Pete Hegseth: Strong families equal strong formations
Jennifer Hegseth said Monday that people serving on the new Military Spouse Commission know firsthand of the daily challenges experienced by military families.
“I’ve spent the last year traveling around and meeting with military spouses and families around the world and around the country — and it’s the same from Kentucky to Singapore,” she said. “It’s housing, it’s healthcare, it’s employment, it’s childcare, it’s education. And so we’re gonna take a look at all of those things.”
Hegseth added that her husband frequently reassures troops that Trump “has your back.”
“And now the families know that (Trump) has their back, too.”
Strong families equal strong formations, said Pete Hegseth at Monday’s signing ceremony.
“When you look at it from a military perspective, our job is to make sure our troops are prepared and ready on behalf of the nation,” added Hegseth.
“And if your family’s not taken care of, then it causes hesitations and complications for the warfighters out front.”
Military childcare and Defense Department-sponsored schools will be commission key priorities, said Pete Hegseth.
“If that warfighter knows that their family is good to go, they will go the extra mile, which is what our nation asks.”
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. John Caine said Monday that American troops are deployed across the globe doing all their nation asks.
“The foundation of American military readiness is the families — and the backstopping of all of that is the military spouses that serve behind them,” said Caine.
“Inevitably, every time somebody deploys, that (families) refrigerator will break down. The car will break down. You think we’re strong — American military spouses are 10 times stronger.
“And the lift that they carry is significant every single day.”
The newly formed military spouse commission will improve lives and enable the nation’s fighting capabilities, added Caine.
Local military family advocates applaud Trump’s executive order
The Utah chapter of Blue Star Families — a national nonprofit serving military and veteran families by fostering connections with civilian communities — voiced support Monday for the new military spouse committee.
“Blue Star Families is grateful for the administration’s commitment to supporting military families through the establishment of the President’s Military Spouse Commission,” said Utah chapter executive director Marcie Valdez.
“This important step recognizes the unique challenges military spouses and children face and creates an opportunity to advance meaningful, long-term solutions.”
Added Utah program director John Witt, a retired Marine: “Military spouses serve alongside their service members in ways that are often unseen — carrying the weight of frequent moves, career disruptions, deployments, and the day-to-day responsibilities of raising families while their loved ones serve.“
During Witt’s military career, he witnessed such sacrifices through his own spouse during multiple deployments and Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves over a 20-year military career.
“Those experiences,” he said, “reinforced that supporting military families is not simply a quality-of-life issue — it is a readiness issue.”