Hegseth Polled Top Commanders on Cutting the Military's Civilian-Harm Program - Every One Said Keep It, and He Cut It Anyway

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth polled top commanders in early 2025 on cutting the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response program, offering three options: cut 65% of staff but stay operational, keep only a small Washington office, or eliminate it, according to memos reviewed by ProPublica. Nine commanders chose the first option; leaders of two commands declined all three and asked to keep the full program. Central Command, which said it needed at least nine of its 16 CHMR staff, was left with one person. The Army, led by a civilian appointee, was the only component that backed elimination.

CHMR was created in 2022 to build ground-level pictures of combat zones and reduce misidentification in targeting. Commanders told Hegseth's staff it "enhanced our precision and accuracy, making us more lethal."

After strikes in Iran and Yemen killed hundreds of civilians, Under Secretary Elbridge Colby proposed in April rebooting the program at 70 full-time staff. The Pentagon did not respond to ProPublica's requests for comment.