‘URGENT!!’ McConnell pushes Hegseth to allow football at military high schools
Sen. Mitch McConnell is asking U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to take “urgent” action on an issue affecting some Kentucky high school students.
Two Kentucky high schools, Fort Campbell and Fort Knox, located on U.S. Army bases of the same name in Western Kentucky and near Louisville, are unable to practice or play football due to the government shutdown that began Oct. 1.
In a letter sent to Hegseth on Friday, McConnell asked the Trump administration’s defense leader to grant the football programs and other extracurricular activities an exception.
“We should not force the children of our servicemembers to pay the price for Washington’s failure to appropriate funds on time, especially as many of these dependents will choose to serve in uniform themselves after graduation,” the GOP senator wrote.
It’s currently unclear when Democrats and Republicans, who control both the White House and Congress, will be able to agree on terms of funding the government.
Both Fort Campbell and Fort Knox high schools have put their Friday night games this week on hold.
“Secretary Hegseth, you correctly emphasize the importance of physical fitness for members of our armed forces and have commendably identified servicemember quality of life matters a major public priority of the Department,” McConnell wrote. “This lapse in appropriations, like all government shutdowns, is deeply harmful to government operations, particularly within the Department of Defense....
“I hope you will take the necessary steps to lessen this unfair burden on our military families by designating DoDEA (Department of Defense Education Activity) athletic and extracurricular activities as excepted activities,” he added
McConnell added that this time is vital for student-athletes seeking to be recruited to play at the collegiate level. Football players, in particular, are reliant on evaluation from their high school play as opposed to other sports where select teams get more attention.
Along with his signature, McConnell handwrote and underlined “URGENT!!” at the bottom of the one-page letter.
The shutdown could also hurt the schools’ standing relative to their non-military peers, potentially causing them to forfeit their Friday games.
In fact, McConnell wrote that Fort Campbell’s team “may be forced to forfeit a game as soon as tonight if the present situation continues.”
Fort Knox’s team is set to play McLean County High School on Friday in what was supposed to be the county school’s homecoming game. Officials there have said homecoming will still take place, game or no game.
Fort Campbell Falcons Head Coach Henry Mitchell told news outlet Christian County Now that the inability to prepare also hurts his team.
“The situation definitely puts our football program at a major disadvantage compared to our opponent,” Mitchell said. “Not being allowed to have team meetings and formal practices to prepare for a football game on Friday night, 99% of the time, produces bad results. My job now is to keep my coaches and players with a positive attitude moving forward.“
McConnell has a rocky history with Hegseth.
A keen participant in U.S. foreign policy, particularly when he was Senate GOP leader for a record-setting 18 years, McConnell was one of a few Republicans to vote against President Donald Trump’s nomination of Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense.
Hegseth, who has since overseen the department’s name change to the Department of War, had served in the Army National Guard for several years but lacked the leadership experience of his predecessors. He was best known as a television personality on the conservative cable television network Fox News.
McConnell, in a January statement explaining his vote, warned that Hegseth would face a “daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests.”
“Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test,” McConnell wrote. “But as he assumes office, the consequences of failure are as high as they have ever been.”
This story was originally published October 3, 2025 at 1:28 PM.
