S. 5189 · 119th Congress

A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994, to codify and clarify gender neutral standards for members of certain Armed Forces, and for other purposes.

Introduced on Jul 30, 2026 by Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI). 24 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Jul 30, 2026): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Jul 30, 2026
Cosponsors
24
0 from the other party
Policy area
Armed Forces and National Security
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in Senate, Jul 30, 2026). Public domain.

This bill prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from excluding an individual from military positions or assignments based on gender. It also limits changes to DOD occupational performance standards that address gender neutrality.

First, the bill prohibits the exclusion of members of the Armed Forces from an occupational specialty, career field, or assignment on the basis of gender.

Next, it prohibits DOD from changing an occupational performance standard to increase or decrease the number of individuals in a career field on the basis of gender. (Currently, this prohibition only applies to increasing or decreasing the number of women.)

DOD must also apply occupational standards related to technical, tactical, cognitive, or physical abilities on a gender-neutral basis for positions that require such standards and must determine any such standards after a rigorous scientific process.

In situations where DOD establishes or revises a physical requirement for a military position, a member serving satisfactorily in such a position must be provided at least 18 months to meet the new standard.

Finally, DOD must notify Congress of any proposed changes to the gender-neutral occupational standards for a military position that may result in at least a 10% change in the number of members of any gender who are assigned to or enter that position. (Currently, such notice is required only with respect to a change in the number of female members.) DOD must provide the congressional defense committees with a report on the proposed change, estimated costs, and justification for the change.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Mazie K. HironoD-HISponsor

Democrats · 24

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Jul 30, 2026Introduced in Senate
  2. Jul 30, 2026 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.