Senate Report Tracks Drop in Women Holding Diplomatic and Military Posts
Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee say the administration has dismantled programs that President Trump championed in his first term.
By Renata Mehta ·
Women now hold 17.4% of Cabinet and Cabinet-level posts under President Trump, down from 52% during the Biden administration, according to a report issued Friday by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The document also states that eight of 201 candidates considered for senior military roles this year were women, about 4%. No active-duty four-star officers are women.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the committee's top Democrat, commissioned the report. It states that the administration has eliminated offices responsible for women's development policies, canceled assistance programs and curtailed the operation of legislation the president signed himself. In 2019, the administration launched an initiative aimed at improving economic opportunities for 50 million women in developing countries by 2025, a program led by Ivanka Trump.
The report says 35 of 206 State Department nominees to date are women, or 17%. That figure was 26% during the same period of the first Trump administration. During the first two years of the Biden administration, 113 of 245 State Department nominees were women. Nearly half of Senate-confirmed ambassadors were women when Mr. Trump took office in 2025; fewer than 25 diplomatic missions are now led by female ambassadors, while 93 of 196 ambassadorships remain unfilled, according to the American Foreign Service Association.
The report also states that the administration has not used $112 million Congress appropriated for fiscal year 2026 to implement the Women, Peace and Security strategy. Mr. Trump signed that law in 2017, and then-Sen. Marco Rubio co-sponsored it. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X in 2025 that he had "ENDED" the program inside the Pentagon, calling it "another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops."
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement that Hegseth's recent speech at Quantico, Virginia, noted that Black and female recruitment are up, and that the military is "more ready, lethal, and healthy than ever before, remaining colorblind, gender-neutral, and merit-based as you should be." White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said: "President Trump is a champion for women and moms across this country." A White House official noted that Susie Wiles serves as the first female chief of staff in history, alongside Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
The report states that the administration terminated 86% of USAID awards involving maternal and child health, potentially affecting care for as many as 16.8 million pregnant women annually. Roughly 800 clinics have closed in Afghanistan following U.S. cuts, with the U.N. projecting 1,200 additional maternal deaths by 2028.
A senior State Department official said the administration is shifting toward locally managed health programs and measuring outcomes rather than the volume of services funded, and that the United States remains the largest global health funder. The official said assistance that could reach the Taliban was suspended, citing the group's restrictions on women and girls. A Democratic congressional aide said regional bureau officials have been unable to identify who is responsible for implementing women's initiatives since the Office of Global Women's Issues was eliminated.
Source: CBS News
