Mike Lee, Warren Davidson Urge Department of War to Adopt Clear Standards for Banned Substances

Mike Lee, Warren Davidson Urge Department of War to Adopt Clear Standards for Banned Substances September 22, 2026 WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH) today authored a letter to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and DoW General Counsel Earl Matthews urging the military reform the broken system used to ban certain substances and supplements for use by servicemembers, which has resulted in disciplinary action against innocent men and women in uniform. They note the ongoing legal review of Pentagon standards and processes ordered by Secretary Hegseth the perfect opportunity to adopt the policies of their PERFECT Act to protect good-faith servicemembers from a malfunctioning bureaucratic system. ****** Dear Secretary Hegseth and Mr. Matthews: We write to support the Department of War’s (DoW) comprehensive review of legal support functions and operations,1 and to bring a relevant issue to the DoW’s attention. Many of our most motivated troops use health supplements to increase nutrient intake and muscle performance, using common off-the-shelf and name-brand supplements. Some of these supplements are even sold in retail facilities on military bases. Due to valid military readiness and health concerns, many of these commercially available supplements are prohibited for servicemembers. These substances are listed in a database called Operation Supplement Safety (OPSS). Unfortunately, OPSS is an obscure, not-user-friendly tool that has caused much trouble for highly motivated servicemembers.3 Rather than providing a comprehensive list of prohibited ingredients and substances, it only features a search box where exact spelling of unfamiliar and complex names like “enclomiphene” or “dimethylamylamine” is necessary. If the servicemember searches the brand name, or messes up a single letter, the database will approve its use, even if it is banned. Moreover, OPSS is regularly updated as more products are added to the commercial market. The database currently includes over 800 prohibited substances and over 1700 synonyms. For a servicemember to maintain full compliance while optimizing supplement intake, he or she would have to regularly enter every single ingredient into the database search one at a time— double- or triple-checking spelling—to make sure the list did not add an ingredient included in the supplements since the last check. Despite being otherwise upstanding servicemembers, many face discipline and separation when a supplement is added to the list without their knowledge. Two things are true at once: first, servicemembers must be responsible for their actions and remain complaint with lawful DoW regulations. Second, DoW regulations must be reasonably implemented and promulgated. Judge Advocate General (JAG) officers are spending inordinate amounts of time defending young recruits who unknowingly used prohibited—but legal and publicly available— substances. These cases are treated as drug abuse, even though the supplements are otherwise legal, non-intoxicating substances. Moreover, the DoW Instruction 1010.01 makes separation from service mandatory, leaving commanding officers with little discretion regardless of the circumstances. We respectfully request that OPSS and DoW Instruction 1010.01 be included in DoW’s comprehensive review of legal operations and functions, and that DoW consider updating the process to ensure that upstanding and motivated servicemembers are properly educated and not needlessly separated from service. That is why we proposed the PERFECT Act, a framework that can guide DoW’s review. Rather than using an obscure search-only database, DoW can publish the full list of prohibited substances every 90 days, noting new additions to the list. This helps keep servicemembers educated. We also recommend that commanding officers be given explicit discretion to not subject servicemembers to discipline or separation, provided that (1) the offense was the first such offense by the servicemember, (2) that the commanding officer determines that the servicemember was acting in good faith, and (3) that the servicemember agrees to participate in education, counseling, or drug testing. This should not apply to servicemembers found to be in possession of dangerous, intoxicating, or illicit drugs appearing in the Controlled Substances Act. Updates like these can simultaneously help achieve DoW’s recruitment and retention goals while empowering servicemembers to take only those health supplements that support military readiness. Thank you for your consideration of this request and for your work to ensure the health, safety, and readiness of our military and its servicemembers. Please do not hesitate to reach out if we can be helpful. A copy of the signed letter can be found here.