Servicemembers thrown into chaos as Hegseth blacklists colleges they can attend

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has created a nightmare for some servicemembers with a new policy that seeks to blacklist several colleges and universities from military tuition assistance, CNN reported on Friday.

Under the new policy, outlined in a memo last week, "Military officers could soon find dozens of top colleges and universities across the United States abruptly off limits for tuition assistance," as a part of Hegseth's "campaign against schools he describes as being biased against the US military and sponsoring 'troublesome partnerships with foreign adversaries.'"

The memo commands the military to “evaluate all existing graduate programs for active-duty members at Ivy League universities and any other universities that similarly diminish critical thinking and have significant adversary involvement, and determine whether they deliver cost-effective, strategic education for future senior leaders when compared to public universities and military masters programs.”

"The uncertainty about tuition assistance and eligible programs for Defense Department funding has led to confusion and concern amongst service members who have already applied or been accepted to these schools," said the report.

Additionally, the report continues, officials "said they were concerned it amounted to an attempt to purge diversity of thought from the military."

This comes as Hegseth, who has styled himself "Secretary of War" by an executive decree that carries no legal weight, got a brutal smackdown in federal court over his attempts to enact military punishment against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) for his role in a video reminding active-duty troops they have a responsibility to refuse orders that would constitute war crimes.