On personnel matters, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hasn’t exactly earned the benefit of the doubt. Last year, for example, the beleaguered Pentagon chief replaced so many women in military leadership roles that The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols noted, “At this point, women have been cleared out of all of the military’s top jobs. … Some observers might see a pattern here. Discerning this pattern does not exactly require Columbo-level sleuthing.”
In the months that followed, the pattern persisted. In fact, just last month, the former Fox News host personally blocked the promotions of nine Navy officers, in a move that disproportionately targeted women and minority officers.
This week, it happened yet again. The New York Times reported that a Navy promotion board made up of senior admirals chose 22 officers. Hegseth took issue with some of them. From the article:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of seven senior Navy officers, five of whom are women or people of color, to two-star admiral rank, current and former defense officials said.
The highly unusual move means that for the first time in more than a decade, no female active-duty naval officers are likely to be promoted to admiral this year, officials said.
According to the reporting, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, among those Hegseth removed from the list was Rear Adm. Amy Bauernschmidt, the first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
This comes up every time Hegseth intervenes in promotion lists, but it’s worth emphasizing that under existing Pentagon policy, the defense secretary is only supposed to block officers for moral, mental, physical or professional failings. Hegseth keeps disregarding the policy.
Indeed, among the most striking elements of the secretary’s tactics is his apparent indifference. After months of controversy and congressional pushback, Hegseth must realize his actions are under the microscope. It stands to reason that he also recognizes that every time he blocks promotions for women or minority officers, it will generate a new round of questions about his apparent hostility to diversity in military leadership.
And yet Hegseth keeps doing it anyway, seemingly confident that he can do as he pleases because the White House agrees.
A separate recent Times report noted that the secretary’s approach “has made it harder for Black and female officers to get promoted to senior ranks, even when their records are exemplary.” If recent history is any guide, this pattern won’t end anytime soon.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
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