Hegseth Strikes Female and Black Navy Officers From Promotion List

[LetMyPeopleVote]

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. 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.

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. Hegseth’s 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. Hegseth’s 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 board’s 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]

1. Absolutely no Sexism or Racism in his decisions.

[LudwigPastorius]

13. An excerpt from an article about Whiskey Pete's pastor, among other things:

https://www.reddit.com/r/atlanticdiscussions/comments/1tcx0e8/the_men_who_want_women_to_be_quiet/

[electric_blue68]

15. Oh, yeah. him. Repressive pig!

[orangecrush]

2. Scumbag

[mahina]

3. What a pitiful excuse of a man.

Fool!

[purr-rat beauty]

4. When will the Pentagon wisen up

And rid us of this vermin

[TomSlick]

8. A worthy goal but how could the Pentagon accomplish that mission?

DoD personnel do not have a say in who is to serve as Secretary.

[DemocracyForever]

5. Total sexism and racism by the most

unqualified Secretary of Defense ever! Anti discrimination laws mean nothing to the MAGAs.

[BettyBlueDot]

6. Morale

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]

7. Ugly Fuckers!!

[Marcuse]

9. .

[struggle4progress]

10. Boozy sexist racist pig

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. He thinks there are not enough stupid white people like himself

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]

12. Affirmative action for mediocre white males.

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]

14. The nextt time he flips a skateboard, let it be someplace that

might do some good!

[electric_blue68]

16. Why am I Not surprised.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. Hegseth axed women and minorities from Navy promotions --and tried to slip in his own aide

Hegseth is a racist sexist asshole

Hegseth axed women and minorities from Navy promotions —and tried to slip in his own aide #RawStory

— #TuckFrump (@realtuckfrumper.bsky.social) 2026-06-01T18:08:39.000Z

https://www.rawstory.com/pete-hegseth-military-promotion/

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked the promotions of at least seven Navy officers hand-picked by a board of senior admirals, removing all women and most minority candidates from the list of nominees for promotions.

The intervention left a slate of 22 one-star admiral nominees that includes no women, despite females making up roughly 21 percent of the active-duty Navy, and only two nonwhite officers, despite racial minorities accounting for approximately 38 percent of the force, reported the New York Times.

At least two of the removed officers are women, two are Black men, and three are white men.

Four current and former defense officials, speaking anonymously to discuss sensitive personnel matters, said Hegseth's actions are highly unusual and appear to breach Pentagon rules, which permit the defense secretary to remove officers from promotion lists only when new information raises specific questions about their fitness to serve — not on ideological grounds.

Internal records suggest some officers were targeted because their names appeared on a website devoted to identifying "woke" military personnel, with infractions as minor as having served as a diversity liaison officer two decades ago. One highly regarded officer — a nuclear-trained surface warfare officer and former aide to a four-star admiral — was pulled from the list shortly after her name surfaced on the site for that decades-old role.

Hegseth also pushed senior Navy officials to place Capt. William Francis Jr., a Navy SEAL who serves as Hegseth’s special assistant, on the one-star list, but his lack of command experience made him ineligible for promotion and he was not selected, according to current and former Navy officials.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. Hegseth is celebrating first day of Pride Month