Hegseth blocks Navy promotions, leaving no women on final slate

Pete Hegseth’s intervention in a Navy promotion slate has left the service’s newest one-star list with no women and only two nonwhite officers, a dramatic break from a force that is about 21% female and 38% racial minority.

The Pentagon had released 22 nominees in late May for Navy flag officer promotion consideration, but at least seven officers were removed before the final list was set, including at least two women and two Black men. The result is a slate that looks far removed from the broader fleet it would help lead, and it has intensified questions inside the military about whether merit is still the governing standard for advancement.

The latest move fits a broader pattern of personal intervention by the defense secretary. In April, Hegseth was reported to have taken steps to block or delay promotions for more than a dozen Black and female senior officers across all four branches, with some U.S. officials suspecting the targets were chosen because of race, gender, DEI affiliation, or ties to Biden-era officials or policies. For officers who depend on a predictable, insulated promotion system, that kind of uncertainty can erode confidence in the chain of command and chill the willingness of talented leaders to stay in uniform.

Military promotion boards have long been designed to keep political pressure away from career advancement, especially at the senior ranks where choices shape readiness, force development and command culture. Georgetown’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security called Hegseth’s decision unprecedented and said senior military officials could not recall a defense secretary selectively removing individual officers from a vetted promotion slate. That warning goes to the core of military professionalism: when officers believe advancement turns on ideology rather than performance, retention suffers and the service loses experienced leaders.

Hegseth has also made his opposition to diversity efforts a public cause. In remarks at West Point in the spring, he attacked previous leaders as “woke and weak” and declared that “diversity is not our strength. Unity is our strength.” Those words now sit alongside a promotion decision that has left the Navy’s final slate without a single woman, sharpening fears that the military’s longstanding norms are being replaced by political loyalty tests.