Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is moving to terminate Pentagon offices and positions that focus on preventing and responding to civilian harm during U.S. combat operations, according to three defense officials. The decision would eliminate jobs for more than 160 Defense Department employees and could halt efforts to provide redress and payments to civilian victims of U.S. combat operations. The move has been heavily criticized by civilian harm protection advocates and human rights lawyers, who argue that it would betray civilians and warfighters alike and make the government less efficient. The Defense Department's civilian protection program was started in response to a Times report in 2017 on civilians killed during airstrikes in Iraq.