Can Women’s Right to Vote Be Taken Away? Why a Pentagon Official’s Post Has People Worried

The U.S. Secretary of Defense just reposted a video that promotes the idea that women shouldn’t be allowed to vote. And the Pentagon refused to clarify if he personally agrees. That’s raising questions far beyond his social media feed.

Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared a seven-minute CNN segment. The video featured Idaho pastor Doug Wilson, a leading figure in Christian nationalist circles. In the clip, Wilson and pastors from his church advocated for “household voting” led by men, and in some cases, outright repealing the 19th Amendment, which guarantees women’s right to vote.

Hegseth added the caption, “All of Christ for All of Life,” a slogan used by Wilson’s denomination, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. The 19th reported that its team asked if the secretary believed women should be able to vote. The Pentagon replied only that Hegseth “very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.”

The video Hegseth promoted goes far beyond voting

In the CNN piece, Pastor Toby Sumpter said, “In my ideal society, we would vote as households. I would ordinarily be the one [who] would cast the vote.” Pastor Jared Longshore went further. He told CNN he supports repealing the 19th Amendment “on the basis that the atomization that comes with our current system is not good for humans.”

Wilson himself said he wants the United States to be “a Christian and patriarchal country” where sodomy is criminalized, women submit to their husbands, and women do not serve in combat. Wilson has also defended pre–Civil War slavery as “based upon mutual affection and confidence” and argued the Civil War was a mistake.

CNN reported that Hegseth recently attended the inaugural service of Wilson’s church in Washington, D.C., with his family. His Pentagon spokesperson confirmed he is “a proud member” of a CREC church in Tennessee.

Women’s right to vote has always faced backlash

Experts told The 19th that while opposition to women’s suffrage has existed for decades, it has recently gained visibility in some right-wing and religious spaces. Kristin Du Mez, a historian at Calvin University, said Wilson’s rise is tied to “a much more rigid application of biblical patriarchy” and a political moment in which views that were once hidden are now openly shared.

Kelly Marino, a historian at Sacred Heart University, told The 19th the current wave resembles past backlash periods, such as the 1970s reaction to civil rights and women’s liberation. She noted growing interest in “tradwife” culture and radical Christianity, which promote women as homemakers under male authority.

Public Religion Research Institute data from 2024 shows that one in ten Americans qualifies as a Christian nationalist adherent, but the belief that women should not vote remains far from mainstream.

Why experts say this rhetoric matters

Hegseth doesn’t have the legal power to revoke voting rights, but advocates say his amplification of this rhetoric is dangerous. Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters, told Glamour, “When leaders entrusted with safeguarding our nation amplify messages that undermine democratic ideals, they normalize the dangerous notion that equality is optional.”

Stewart added, “Authoritarianism doesn’t arrive overnight—it advances through small, corrosive concessions disguised as ‘tradition’ or ‘order.’” Hillary Clinton also weighed in on social media, warning that women’s voting rights could be the next target after the fall of Roe v. Wade.

Andrew Whitehead, a sociology professor at Indiana University Indianapolis, told NPR the goal for Wilson and his followers “is to spread these ideas across the country – and ultimately make them enforceable.” He emphasized the significance of “somebody so high up in the government” promoting such views.

Could the 19th Amendment actually be repealed?

In theory, yes. Amending the Constitution requires approval from two-thirds of both the House and Senate and ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures. That is an extraordinarily high bar, and legal scholars say it is unlikely in the current political landscape.

But as Stewart and other advocates stressed, the danger lies in mainstreaming the idea that women’s right to vote is negotiable. It reframes equality as optional and fuels movements that seek to roll back established rights.

For now, the 19th Amendment stands. Yet the fact that one of the most powerful people in the U.S. government is boosting content questioning it is, as Vote Common Good’s Doug Pagitt told the Associated Press, “very disturbing.”