During a recent visit to a Navy ship, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly became angry after seeing sailors with facial hair. The Navy requires sailors to be clean-shaven unless they've been given a medical waiver. America is at war. The ship and its crew were operating amid heightened tensions. Hegseth's attention was on beards.

Pentagon officials subsequently held meetings in which subordinates were told that Hegseth was closely watching the services' progress on grooming rules. Weeks later, the Navy limited medical shaving waivers--which let a sailor with a qualifying skin condition keep about a quarter-inch of trimmed facial hair instead of having to shave daily--to four consecutive 90-day renewals, a maximum of 12 months. Sailors whose condition hasn't cleared by then can be pushed out through administrative separation.

Then, last week, Hegseth announced another priority: Every service member age 30 or older,........

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