The Pentagon reversed course on a controversial religious classification after Republican lawmakers criticized a policy that separated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Christian denominations on a newly streamlined list of faith codes for service members.

After complaints from Utah Republicans and discussions involving President Donald Trump, the War Department announced that it had revised the list, removing labels that grouped religions under broader categories and adding LDS as one of 30 approved faith codes.

"Last week, a proposed list of simplified faith codes was released to the media. The Pentagon list included redundant and unnecessary labeling, and the mistake has been fixed," a Pentagon X account posted Monday. "The Pentagon's job is not to adjudicate theological debates, but instead to ensure sincerely-held faith is respected and encouraged in our ranks."

The dispute began after War Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the military to reduce the number of religious affiliation codes from about 200 to 31, arguing the previous system was overly complicated and contained many unused categories.

When the new list was released Friday, LDS was not included among the 21 denominations identified as Christian, prompting an immediate backlash from members of Utah's congressional delegation.

In a video posted on X, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, called the designation "very unfortunate."

"I find this offensive, not just because that happens to be my faith, and not just because that happens to be the faith of tens of thousands of U.S. military personnel, but it's also just repugnant to any sense of decency, any sense of our common heritage and our common belief that the government needs to not weigh in on doctrinal disputes between various religious denominations," Lee said.

"I'm imploring people at the Pentagon to reconsider this — not just reconsider it, but undo it," he added. "Secretary Hegseth, tear down that wall! This is not cool! Get rid of it, get rid of it now!"

Rep. Mike Kennedy, R-Utah, also criticized the department's original list.

"The Pentagon's decision to list The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apart from other Christian faiths is wrong and needs to be corrected," Kennedy wrote on X.

Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell defended the broader effort to simplify religious designations, saying the changes were intended to help chaplains better serve military personnel.

"With this move, we are returning to the original intent of collecting this data – to allow our chaplains and religious support personnel to provide the best spiritual care to our warfighters," Parnell said in a Friday post on X.

Lee later revealed he had spoken with Trump about the Pentagon's "Christian list."

"I won't speak for him, but I'm thrilled about where this is heading," Lee wrote.