President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday establishing a formal commission to address decades-old, persistent problems facing military spouses and families.
“It’s an order that’s long overdue,” Trump said during a signing ceremony at the White House, flanked by more than a dozen military spouses who will be part of the new commission. The President’s Military Spouse Commission will make suggestions for improving quality of life in the areas of spouse employment, housing, education, childcare, healthcare, deployment-related support “and just about everything else you can think of,” Trump said.
He noted the strains of separation from loved ones deployed overseas and the frequency of permanent change of station moves.
These are “generational issues that are long overdue to address,” said Jennifer Hegseth, wife of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chairman of the commission, which will include more than 20 members.
For more than a decade, military spouses have struggled with unemployment rates above 20%, in addition to various problems with housing, lack of affordable childcare and persistent issues with access to health care.
The commission’s duties will include connecting with military spouses to determine common areas of concern, according to the executive order.
Commission members will include Christie Mullin, the wife of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, as well as the spouses of the service secretaries, spouses of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and spouses of the services’ senior enlisted advisers.
“It means the world to me that you highlight the enlisted corps,” said one senior enlisted member’s wife who spoke at the ceremony.
Trump said that collectively, these spouses have more than 400 years of experience as active-duty spouses.
“America couldn’t have the strongest military in the world without the love and devotion of our remarkable military spouses, who make extraordinary sacrifices for our country,” Trump said.
The spouses will serve without compensation, but they may receive reimbursement for travel expenses. The group will meet each month at the White House and will provide a report on the issues at the end of each fiscal year for as long as the commission exists. The commission will end two years from now, unless the president extends it, according to the executive order.
It’s unclear how or if the commission will work with the congressionally mandated Department of Defense Family Readiness Council, which is now in the process of being reconstituted. That council hasn’t met since DOD ordered a review of all advisory committees in early 2025. For over ten years, the council examined issues affecting military families. At most, they met twice each year.
A congressional push to improve quality of life resulted in pay raises in 2025 that targeted younger enlisted troops, as well as other initiatives. But service officials and families have said there are lingering, persistent concerns in areas such as childcare, spouse employment, housing and healthcare, among others.
Previous initiatives during the Biden and Obama administrations also aimed to raise awareness of issues for military families.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
