Pete Hegseth removes all women and some Black service members from navy promotion list

Midshipmen in formation at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Photograph: VisionsofAmerica/Joe Sohm/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Midshipmen in formation at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Photograph: VisionsofAmerica/Joe Sohm/Getty Images Pete Hegseth removes all women and some Black service members from navy promotion list Defense secretary’s latest interposition resulted in all-male, overwhelmingly white picks for promotion to admiralty US politics live – latest updates The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth , stripped nine navy officers including women and Black service members from a promotion list last month, according to a person familiar with the matter, resulting in an all-male, overwhelmingly white slate of 22 advancing as nominees to become one-star admirals. Hegseth’s unusual intervention violated promotion rules designed to be merit-based and apolitical, the New York Times said on Tuesday , and extended the Trump administration’s push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the military. The original promotion list included three women and two Black officers in addition to the two who remained, the newspaper said. Transgender troops can remain in US military, but enlistment can be blocked, court rules Read more A navy source said that officials in the service had been “very confident” with those on the promotion list, including the officers whom Hegseth removed. He said Hegseth did not explain to the navy why he removed the officers from the list. One government source familiar with matter said Hegseth has “his favorite MOS’s [military occupational specialities], and then gender and race. He went through the list and scrubbed a few names. It was felt loud and clear.” The Pentagon disputed that Hegseth blocked promotions based on race or gender. “As we’ve said before, military promotions are given to those who have earned them. The department will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions,” said Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesperson. “Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, meritocracy reigns supreme at the war department.” The move has direct parallels with Hegseth’s reported interposition in a similar army promotion list in March, in which he is said to have directed the army secretary, Dan Driscoll, to remove two women and two Black officers from a nomination slate to become one-star generals. Hegseth has previously railed against diversity and so-called “woke” in the armed services. “For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniform leaders for the wrong reasons – based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts,” he told a keynote meeting of military commanders in Virginia in September. “The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies.” Hegseth’s involvement in the promotions list is unusual, according to a former military official. “It’s supposed to an up-and-d