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Hegseth Blocks Multiple Navy Promotions, Leaving No Women Among New Admirals

Repeated early June removals of board‑approved officers have prompted charges of discrimination with lawmakers questioning military readiness.

Illustration by Noah Hickey/The Dispatch (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images).
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine arrive for a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing on the budget request for the Department of Defense, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine testifies at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing on the budget request for the Department of Defense, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers his address during the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Overview

  • In early June the defense secretary removed or blocked multiple Navy captains from promotion slates that had been approved by Navy leaders and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, producing a list with no women chosen for one‑star admiral this year.
  • The cuts reported by the Pentagon and news outlets included several women and Black officers, and female sailors say the moves signal a career ceiling and risk discouraging future leaders from staying in uniform.
  • Pentagon spokespeople said promotions remain merit based and denied discrimination, but legal experts and historians say the secretary is acting within statutory authority while the scale and frequency of his interventions are highly unusual.
  • Reporting shows the secretary moved to advance his military assistant, Navy SEAL captain William Francis Jr., over candidates the promotion board had twice rejected for lacking command experience.
  • Lawmakers and retired officials have opened scrutiny of the pattern because it could erode the senior talent pool, hurt morale and diversity, and change longstanding norms about civilian intervention in service promotion boards.