US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has removed nine navy officers from a promotion list, including women and Black service members, resulting in an all-male, overwhelmingly white slate of 22 nominees for one-star admiral, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The intervention, reported by the New York Times, is said to violate promotion rules intended to be merit-based and apolitical. The original list included three women and two Black officers, in addition to two who remained. A navy source said officials had been “very confident” with the initial list, but Hegseth did not explain his reasons for the removals.
One government source said Hegseth had “his favourite MOS’s [military occupational specialities], and then gender and race. He went through the list and scrubbed a few names.” The Pentagon denied that race or gender were factors, with spokesperson Sean Parnell stating: “Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, meritocracy reigns supreme.”
The move mirrors Hegseth’s reported intervention in an army promotion list in March, where he allegedly directed the army secretary to remove two women and two Black officers. Hegseth has previously criticised diversity initiatives in the armed forces, saying in September: “For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniform leaders for the wrong reasons – based on their race, based on gender quotas.”
A former military official described Hegseth’s involvement as unusual, noting that it strips autonomy from service secretaries. The list, published on 22 May, includes Capt Sean Barbabella, Donald Trump’s White House physician. The New York Times noted that the list bears little relation to the navy’s active-service composition, which is over 21% women and almost 40% from racial minority groups.
