# 119-s-5189: 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.

119-s-5189, 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., is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-10).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5189
- As of: 2026-10-10
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5189
- Congress: 119
- Title: 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.
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-07-30
- Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI)
- Cosponsors: 24
- Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-10

## Summary

**This bill would ban excluding service members from occupational specialties or assignments because of gender and require modern, evidence-based performance rules and stronger transparency through new reports and reviews.** - Would prohibit excluding members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Space Force from any occupational specialty, career field, or assignment on the basis of gender. - Would modernize career designator standards to focus on occupational performance, rely on scientific methods to measure technical, tactical, cognitive, and physical abilities, remove physical qualifiers, and set performance timeframes not shorter than 18 months with input from Department of Defense health researchers. - Would require annual Department of Defense reports that list changes and involuntary reclassifications or separations by gender, deliver an unredacted review of Army and Marine ground combat units to congressional defense committees within 7 days of completion, and trigger a Comptroller General review within 180 days of enactment.

## Cosponsors (24)

- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2026-09-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] (D-NY), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD] (D-MD), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA] (D-WA), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV] (D-NV), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Slotkin, Elissa [D-MI] (D-MI), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kelly, Mark [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (D-WI), 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA] (D-VA), 2026-08-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA), 2026-08-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2026-08-05T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blunt Rochester, Lisa [D-DE] (D-DE), 2026-09-22T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Gender-neutral military job access rules: benefit, high. If enacted, this bill would bar the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force from excluding a member from any occupational specialty, career field, or assignment because of gender. It would modernize military job standards to use gender-neutral "occupational performance standards" based…
- Unredacted combat review for Congress: benefit, medium. If enacted, this bill would require the Secretary of Defense to provide Congress with the full, unredacted review of the operational effectiveness of Army and Marine Corps ground combat units not later than 7 days after the review is completed. The Secretary would have to brief the Senate and House…
- Repeal of a military personnel rule: mixed, medium. If enacted, this bill would repeal section 8225 of title 10, United States Code. That repeal would take effect on September 30, 2026. Because the removed text currently sits in Defense personnel law, the practical effects would depend on the content of that subsection and how the Department of Defe…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026
- 119-s-1503: Equality Act
- 119-s-2150: Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025
- 119-s-2523: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-s-5189 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5189)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [119-s-1503: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1503)
- [119-s-2150: Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2150)
- [119-s-2523: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2523)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5189 (as of 2026-10-10).