Hegseth intervenes on promotion list (again), blocks female and Black officers
The fact that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directly intervened and edited military branches’ promotion lists is itself highly unusual and tough to defend. But the closer one looks at the details, the worse his antics appear.
When it comes to the new Navy promotion list, for example, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon chief took an active role in trying to promote Capt. William Francis Jr. — a Navy SEAL and a member of Hegseth’s inner circle, currently serving as the secretary’s special military assistant — “who was previously passed over for promotion several times” by previous promotion boards.
But the problem isn’t just who Hegseth wanted to add to the list; it’s also who he wanted to remove from the list. The New York Times reported Monday:
In a move that disproportionately targets women and minority officers, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of nine Navy officers who had been selected by a board of senior Navy admirals.
The net result of Mr. Hegseth’s intervention is a slate of 22 nominees to be one-star admirals that bears little resemblance to the broader force these officers will help lead.
Of the nine officers blocked by Hegseth, three are women and two are Black men. The Times’ report added that the secretary’s actions “appear to violate the rules governing a promotion system that is supposed to be apolitical and merit-based.”
If this sounds at all familiar, it’s probably because these developments come on the heels of Hegseth also blocking the promotions of four Army colonels — two women and two Black men — who were slated to become one-star generals.
In a statement to news organizations, the chief Pentagon spokesperson said, “As we’ve said before, military promotions are given to those who have earned them. The Department will never consider the color of a servicemember’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions. Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, meritocracy reigns supreme at the War Department.”
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Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
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