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The Pentagon has announced new medical waiver policies that disqualify individuals with serious health conditions from enlisting in the military.

Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, a medical waiver in the military is an official exception granted to recruits who do not meet the standard medical requirements for military service. The waiver process allows individuals with certain health conditions to enlist if it is determined that their condition will not impair their ability to serve effectively or pose a risk to themselves or others. Back when President Biden was in office, these standards were more flexible, with a greater emphasis on individual assessments rather than on blanket disqualifications.

What’s going on now: In a memo posted by the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth enacted new rules that eliminated the possibility of receiving a medical waiver for conditions including schizophrenia, congestive heart failure, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, brittle bone disease (osteogenesis imperfecta), current use of supplemental oxygen, and recent suicide attempts. In his memo, Secretary Hegseth said, “America’s warfighters must be physically and mentally capable of performing their duties in the harshest of conditions…Severe underlying medical conditions introduce significant risks on the battlefield and threaten not only mission priorities, but also the health and safety of the affected individual and their fellow service members.”

In addition to these disqualifying conditions, the policy introduces a new tier of medical cases that now require a high-level waiver issued directly by the secretary of a military branch. These include a history of psychotic disorders, the presence of an implanted pacemaker or defibrillator, past corneal transplants, neurodegenerative diseases, liver failure, kidney disease requiring dialysis, and the absence of a foot, hand, or eye.

The tightened waiver rules follow a directive issued by Hegseth in April, ordering a full review of the medical conditions that could potentially impact combat readiness. That review came amid broader efforts by the Pentagon to reinforce what Hegseth has called “eroded” standards in the military.