Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has rescinded a controversial religious classification policy at the Pentagon that faced significant bipartisan backlash. This decision follows a May 20 memo from Under Secretary of Defense Anthony Tata, which reduced military religious affiliation codes from 211 to 31 but controversially excluded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Christian category. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) condemned the exclusion as 'repugnant' and contacted President Donald Trump, which contributed to the policy's swift reevaluation. Lawmakers from both parties expressed their discontent, with Senator John Curtis (R-UT) calling the original policy 'unacceptable' and urging for a correction. By Monday afternoon, the Pentagon announced its decision to include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a distinct entry in the classification list. Curtis publicly thanked the Department of War for addressing the concerns raised. However, some critics, including atheist commentator Hemant Mehta, have pointed out that the revised list still fails to adequately represent atheists and agnostics, as they are grouped together, and smaller faiths are categorized under 'Other Religions.'