{"id":2250,"date":"2026-07-17T03:21:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T03:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnnglobalnews.com\/2026\/07\/17\/hegseth-declares-war-on-low-testosterone\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T03:21:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T03:21:02","slug":"hegseth-declares-war-on-low-testosterone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=2250","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth declares war on low testosterone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Critics have mocked the US secretary of war \u2013 known for his anti-woke policies \u2013 for pushing \u201cgender-affirming care\u201d in the military<\/strong><\/p>\n

The US military will screen troops aged 30 and older for low testosterone every year and offer hormone replacement therapy to those found deficient, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has announced.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon chief unveiled the plan in a nearly three-minute video on X titled \u2018The High-T Department of War\u2019. He stressed that the initiative \u201cis not about artificial enhancement\u201d<\/em> but rather \u201crestoring and optimizing [service members\u2019] natural capabilities, protecting your longevity, and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Hegseth said the therapy would be optional and based on recommendations by health professionals.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"US
\u2018Diversity is our strength\u2019 is the \u2018dumbest phrase\u2019 in military history \u2013 Pentagon chief<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Asked by reporters about which studies underpin the new policy, the Pentagon pointed back to the video, in which Hegseth said the \u201cmodern battlefield\u201d<\/em> demands \u201cmaximum psychological and mental readiness.\u201d<\/em> It did not answer whether female troops would be screened for declining estrogen.<\/p>\n

Testosterone deficiency in men usually grows with age and is often linked to erectile dysfunction, low libido, mood changes, and weight gain. However, while recent studies by the National Institutes of Health found that testosterone replacement therapy addressed libido issues and somewhat mitigated mood swings, it did little to improve endurance, memory, or overall well-being.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Pentagon blasts new Netflix gay US military series<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Despite the available research, the administration of US President Donald Trump\u2013 particularly Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. \u2013 has been pushing to make testosterone replacement therapy more widespread, with the Food and Drug Administration recently proposing to ease prescribing limits on testosterone medications.<\/p>\n

Hegseth\u2019s remarks triggered mockery, however, with some commentators alluding to the secretary\u2019s hardline campaign against \u2018wokeness\u2019, DEI, and the decision to ban transgender service members.<\/p>\n

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth said the plan sounded \u201clike gender-affirming care to me,\u201d<\/em> while Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat, suggested it proved Hegseth \u201ctakes direction from the far corners of the manosphere.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Democratic Senator Cory Booker dismissed Hegseth as \u201cnot a serious person\u201d<\/em> and unfit for his role. \u201cThe fact that we, in the midst of a disastrous [Iran] war, have a secretary of defense doing things like this makes us a mockery globally. This is ridiculous,\u201d<\/em> he told CNN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Critics have mocked the US secretary of war \u2013 known for his anti-woke policies \u2013 for pushing \u201cgender-affirming care\u201d in the military The US military will screen troops aged 30 … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}