Hegseth Strikes Female and Black Navy Officers From Promotion List
Source: New York Times (gift link)
In a move that disproportionately targets women and minority officers, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of at least seven Navy officers who had been selected by a board of senior Navy admirals.
The net result of Mr. Hegseths 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.
At least two of the officers removed by Mr. Hegseth from the promotion list are women and two are Black men. An additional three are white men.
Mr. Hegseths actions, which appear to violate the rules governing a promotion system that is supposed to be apolitical and merit-based, were described by four current and former defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.....
In a break with protocol, Mr. Hegseth also urged senior Navy officials to include Capt. William Francis Jr., a Navy SEAL who serves as Mr. Hegseths special assistant, on the one-star list, current and former Navy officials said. Captain Francis lack of command experience made him ineligible for promotion under the boards rules and he was not selected, officials said.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/us/politics/hegseth-navy-promotion-list.html?unlocked_article_code=1.m1A.1SkC.9oHreOe1JYRp&smid=nytcore-ios-share
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Fla Dem
(27,809 posts)LudwigPastorius
(15,102 posts)electric_blue68
(27,458 posts)orangecrush
(31,353 posts)mahina
(20,766 posts)Fool!
purr-rat beauty
(1,508 posts)And rid us of this vermin
TomSlick
(13,099 posts)DoD personnel do not have a say in who is to serve as Secretary.
DemocracyForever
(234 posts)unqualified Secretary of Defense ever! Anti discrimination laws mean nothing to the MAGAs.
BettyBlueDot
(31 posts)Imagine what this does to the morale of our troops. Blacks and females now with proof that THIS military holds no future for them. All because of a felon, grifting, lying, lifelong conman.
bluestarone
(22,483 posts)Marcuse
(9,114 posts)
struggle4progress
(126,809 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(137,885 posts)I had the above comment removed from the comments section of a Yahoo article. I should clarify I am a white male and stand by my comment.
valleyrogue
(2,809 posts)This has always been what this is about. These idiots like Hegseth want to go back to the days where white men didn't have to do shit right out of high school to score a high-paying job. To them, this is "merit," which of course doesn't exist. When women and POC started making inroads against white male privilege on the basis of skill, education, and other qualifications, those white males threw hissy fits about "merit."
Meanwhile, these same idiots never complained about veterans preference, which IS a form of affirmative action, but more often than not benefited white males, so it was left in.
niyad
(134,356 posts)might do some good!