US Military & Defense — 2026-08-26

Every Combatant Commander Opposed Hegseth Civilian Harm Program Cuts, Internal Poll Shows

BLUFRestoration of the Civilian Harm Mitigation program to even 35% staffing by end of 2026 is unlikely, as Hegseth's office has converted neither commander consensus nor Colby's proposal into funded action.

A ProPublica investigation, drawing on a memo and internal correspondence, reported that an early-2025 poll of top US combatant commanders found unanimous opposition to eliminating the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response program, with nine commanders choosing to cut 65% of staff rather than end it and two commands, including those overseeing nuclear and cyber operations, requesting the program remain fully intact 1. Central Command, then led by Gen. Erik Kurilla, warned in a memo that cutting the program would increase "risk of target misidentification and reduced battlespace awareness," and its own civilian-harm staff was cut from 16 full-time personnel to one 1. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth nonetheless stripped the program of nearly all funding and reduced its staff from roughly 200 to about two dozen, according to current and former defense officials cited in the report 1. The military has killed hundreds of civilians since the program was gutted, including roughly 153 killed and 243 wounded in a spring 2025 Yemen air campaign and more than 100 children in a March 2026 strike on a school in Iran 1. Under Secretary of Policy Elbridge Colby proposed in April restoring the program at 35% staffing, a plan the same commanders endorsed, per the same officials 1.

Analysis
Restoration of civilian-harm staffing to at least 35% by year's end is unlikely: Hegseth's office has shown no institutional commitment to reversing the cuts despite unanimous commander opposition and endorsement of Colby's April proposal, and a department tolerating no dissent under Hegseth and Trump has not converted that proposal into funded staffing months later. Commanders may be defending resources and authority under their control as much as asserting that mitigation improves operational outcomes. Congressional scrutiny following the Yemen and Iran strikes creates pressure for a partial rebuild, but absent it, commands continue operating with skeleton oversight, pushing Congress toward mandating minimum staffing by statute rather than leaving it to Pentagon discretion. Confidence is moderate, resting on a single detailed ProPublica account of internal deliberations that other outlets have amplified but not independently corroborated.

3 sources