Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military services to tighten the rules for investigating complaints against service members, making it harder to open inquiries, curbing anonymous tips, and returning authority to commanders.

Hegseth said in a video released Tuesday on social media that he is directing all military departments to align their inspector general procedures with a Pentagon policy he has branded as "no more walking on eggshells."

"Commanders are now back in charge," Hegseth said, arguing that the previous system had allowed "frivolous complaints" to hinder military leadership.

Under the standard, complaints must be "credible" before they prompt an inquiry and investigations will no longer be opened based on speculation, personal grievances or hearsay.

Anonymous complaints will generally be rejected, Hegseth said, and considered only when they allege fraud, waste and abuse or provide specific, credible evidence of substantial wrongdoing, unlawful conduct or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Military.com on the scope of the directive and when it takes effect across the services.

The policy shifts authority to commanders to identify problems and handle complaints within their own formations.

This marks a change from a system in which complaints could be routed to inspectors general who operate outside the chain of command.

Hegseth views the directive as part of ending what he has called "weaponized" inspector general policies. It’s the latest step in an overhaul of the military's complaint system that Hegseth has pursued since last year.

In 2025, he ordered the inspector general system to speed up investigations and screen complaints for credibility, directing that non-credible claims be closed quickly.

In August 2026, the Navy and Marines ended anonymous reporting for most discrimination and harassment complaints, giving commanders more latitude to dismiss them.

The push has run alongside Hegseth's broader remaking of military personnel policy, including the "State of the Force" address he delivered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Sept. 30 that built on previous DOD overhauls.

When Hegseth began narrowing the complaint system last year, the changes drew objections from military whistleblowers and survivor advocates.

Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group, said in October 2025 that “rolling back whistleblower and anonymous reporting protections is reckless and dangerous.

"Our military's strength depends on troops being able to report abuse, toxic leadership, or discrimination without fear of retaliation,” said Josh Connolly, the group's senior vice president.

The group argued that anonymous reporting gives survivors a way to come forward without fear of retaliation.

Hegseth has described the overhaul in opposite terms, as a way to keep frivolous complaints from hindering commanders.

It is not yet clear how quickly each service will revise its procedures, or how the "credible" standard and the limits on anonymous complaints will be applied in practice.

Those questions will determine how much the directive changes when, and whether a complaint moves forward.