Overview
- Reporting this week shows Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth personally removed nine officers from a Navy flag (O-7) promotion slate that a selection board had approved, reducing the list from 31 names to 22.
- The group Hegseth cut included all women on the original slate and several minority officers while the Pentagon has offered no public explanation for the changes.
- Critics say the moves are unprecedented in recent decades and undermine the statutory, merit-based role of selection boards that normally remove names only for specific fitness or misconduct findings.
- Separate reporting says Hegseth pressed Navy leaders to advance his military assistant despite apparent shortfalls in required command experience, adding concerns about favoritism and opacity.
- Opinion pieces and retired flag officers have called for redress and congressional oversight, while the Pentagon denies decisions were driven by race or gender and the episode raises questions about morale, retention and the future diversity of senior leaders.