President signs executive order creating Presidential Military Spouse Commission

The president signed an executive order establishing the "1st ever presidential military spouse commission," saying the panel will produce recommendations to improve the quality of life for military spouses and families. "Today, I'm signing an executive order to establish the 1st ever presidential military spouse commission," the president said at the White House launch event.

Desiree Thompson Sale, introduced at the event as the commission's executive director, and Jennifer Hegseth, named chair, will lead a group the administration described as experienced in military family issues. Sale said the membership brought deep first-hand experience: "collectively, this group has over 400 years of experience as an active duty military spouse," she said. The president said the commission will develop suggestions touching housing, employment, health care, education and child care and will advise how the federal government can better support military families.

The executive order was signed at the event and the administration characterized the action as immediate: the president invited the commission's leaders to begin meetings at the White House. The order was presented publicly before a question-and-answer session with reporters.

Next steps outlined by speakers included convening the commission, gathering testimony from military spouses and preparing formal recommendations; the administration did not provide a timetable for final recommendations at the event.