Gen. Colin Powell appeared on Arlington National Cemetery’s notable graves list as of March 25

As the Trump administration ordered federal websites scrubbed of diversity, equity and inclusion references, social media users scrutinizing the websites said they noticed changes to Arlington National Cemetery’s.

"Pete Hegseth removed Colin Powell’s name from a list of notable Americans, buried at Arlington National Cemetery," read a March 20 X post, referring to the former secretary of state and two-time Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. 

The X posted added: "Hegseth also removed the names of every person of color and every woman on the same list. Only white men were left in place."

This fact-check was suggested by one of PolitiFact’s text subscribers who saw the claim on social media and wondered "Is that true?" (Sign up to receive text messages and you'll be connected to our fact-checking newsroom.)

(Screenshot from X)

Arlington National Cemetery’s website appears to have permanently removed several categories for notable people, including "African American History," "Hispanic American History" and "Women’s History." A cemetery spokesperson told PolitiFact on March 24 that about 40 profiles once listed under those three categories that were not included in any other category were temporarily removed from the website. Within a two-week period, all the profiles were republished in different categories, the spokesperson said.  

The spokesperson said Powell previously had been included under "African American History," but was also featured in "Politics & Government," so he remained on the website the entire time. (Powell still appears under that category as of March 25.)

The cemetery’s media team released a March 19 statement that it is working to comply with the Trump administration’s executive orders and the Defense Department’s instructions about diversity, equity and inclusion.  

The March 19 statement also said, "We want to clarify that no service members have been permanently removed from the ‘Notable Graves’ section of our website. … All profiles of individuals from the previously listed categories ‘African American History,’ ‘Hispanic American History’ and ‘Women’s History’ can be found in other categories, such as ‘Prominent Military Figures,’ ‘Politics and Government,’ or ‘Science, Technology and Engineering’ (to name a few examples), based on the person’s historical contributions to our nation."

As of March 25, Powell’s biography appeared on the cemetery’s "Notable Graves" list, among people categorized as "Prominent Military Figures." The site says that group includes people "historically significant primarily for their military leadership and service." 

"Vietnam veteran Gen. Colin Powell was the first African American to hold three of the U.S. government’s highest positions: national security advisor (1987-1989), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-1993), and secretary of state (2001-2005)," the site said. "The son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell grew up in the South Bronx and enrolled in Army ROTC during college. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1958. By 1989, he had risen to the rank of four-star general."

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NBC News reported March 22 that a page about Powell was "restored following public outrage." NPR reported March 14 that a story about Powell’s achievements could be found only by "using the search function." 

The military news site Task & Purpose reported March 13 that the cemetery had "unpublished" dozens of links, including to "Notable Graves" lists for graves classified as examples of "African American History," "Hispanic American History" and "Women’s History." 

(Screenshots from the Internet Archive Dec. 12, 2024, and Arlington National Cemetery March 25, 2025.)

An Army spokesperson told Task & Purpose that the changes were to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders about diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility personnel, programs and policies. 

The Defense Department has also deleted historical images, articles and posts mentioning certain DEI keywords. Some deletions prompted public backlash that led to some pages being restored, but the Associated Press reported March 22 that not everything deleted had been restored.

As of March 25, Powell appeared on Arlington National Cemetery’s website. We rate claims that Hegseth removed Powell from "a list of notable Americans" False.