War Secretary Pete Hegseth will lead a new Pentagon advisory board that will oversee a blend of homeland security and defense, according to a Federal Register notice.

The Homeland Defense Board, which was first reported by Defense News on Monday, will fill what the Pentagon sees as a gap in the “specific, integrated advice” the secretary needs to defend the homeland, which is not available through alternative sources.

“While other agencies and departments operate within specific mission or geographic areas, their advisory mechanisms are statutorily constrained to their respective non-military domains,” the panel’s establishing documents read. “Relying solely on internal DoW staff or contracted studies is also insufficient, as it fails to provide the consensus-based, independent, and external peer review required at the highest levels of strategic decision-making.”

The new board will consist of up to 20 members, including the secretary of defense, who will serve as chair; the assistant secretary of defense for Homeland Defense and Americas Security Affairs as vice chair; and the deputy assistant secretaries of defense for Homeland Defense and Defense Continuity and Mission Assurance.

One civilian and one field- or mid-grade officer from each military branch and “such other members as the SecWar or the Deputy Secretary of War may appoint or designate," will also serve on the board.

The board's creation comes after Hegseth cut all members of existing Pentagon advisory panels last year after he ordered a 45-day “zero-based review” to determine if the roughly 40 such committees were aligned with the Trump administration’s policy priorities. 

The review recommended cutting 14 different defense advisory groups, including the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, which was first established in 1951.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.