AUGUST 4, 2026 – President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office today establishing the President’s Military Spouse Commission.
The commission, which is authorized by Executive Order 14415, will provide recommendations for improving the quality of life for military spouses by addressing common challenges, such as housing, employment, healthcare, childcare, education and “just about everything else you can think of,” according to the president.
“America cannot have the strongest military in the world without the love and devotion of our remarkable military spouses, who make the extraordinary sacrifices for our country. … Many military spouses spend months separated from their loved ones, while our heroes are deployed overseas,” Trump said while surrounded by numerous military spouses who will serve in the commission.
He noted that military families also endure frequent moves and other unique challenges.
The commission will be chaired by the spouse of the secretary of war.
During brief remarks, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who attended the ceremony along with his wife, Jennifer Hegseth, explained that strong military families make for strong warfighters.
“If that warfighter knows that their family is good to go, they will go the extra mile, which is what our nation asks,” he said.
The executive order states that the spouses of various senior military leaders will serve as members, including the spouses of all service secretaries and the joint service chiefs.
“This entire group has mountains of experience, and they’re raring to go put it to use on behalf of the great Americans who serve our nation. … This is going to be full speed ahead to address every quality-of-life issue we can,” Hegseth added.
Jennifer Hegseth said the members have decades of experience that they’ll bring to the commission, but in addition to the experience, she said support from the top down is the biggest asset.
“Every time [Secretary Hegseth] travels around to the troops, he tells them that the president has [their] back. And now the families know that you have their back, too, and we are grateful,” Jennifer Hegseth told the president.
Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, likened military families to the foundation of military readiness, and the backstop of those families is the spouses.
“You think [service members] are strong? American military spouses are 10 times stronger, and the lift that they carry is significant every single day,” Caine said.
He went on to thank the new commission for the work they will be doing to help improve the lives of military families.
“[The family] is a critical enabler for American warfighting capabilities, so to all of you here and [for] all the work that went into putting this commission together, ‘thank you,'” Caine said.
Per the executive order, the new commission will be funded by the War Department, which will also provide administrative and technical support to the group, “to the extent permitted by law and as authorized by existing appropriations.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law July 4, 2025, allocated roughly $9 billion specifically for service member and military family quality-of-life initiatives and programs.
The commission will meet monthly at the White House.
“[The President’s Military Spouse Commission is] an order that’s long overdue, as far as I’m concerned — like, by decades — and we’re going to do a real [good] job with it,” Trump said, just prior to signing the executive order.
By Matthew Olay
Pentagon News