Pete Hegseth Blocks Women and Black Officers from Their Pentagon Promotions—Again

There are few things written in the stars quite so permanently as the hell-boundedness of Pete Hegseth’s soul, and I truly, truly believe the man’s one day destined to make history at the Hague Hall of Shame, if not for his openly jingoist goals to obliterate Iran, for his alleged—and countless—transgressions against women. Until then, however, we’re stuck dealing with the consequences of the War Defense Secretary’s actions—such as his dogged obsession with blocking women and Black servicemembers from leadership positions at the Pentagon. 

According to several current and former DOD officers that spoke to the New York Times, Hegseth recently blocked at least nine Navy officers from being promoted to one-star admirals after they were handpicked by a board of senior admirals—a disproportionate number of whom were women and Black individuals. (If that sounds familiar, the same exact outlet reported the same exact instance happening in March—except then, it was four colonels he blocked from a promotion.) He then proposed a new list in late May—which included absolutely zero female officers. How strange!

Pete Hegseth has sexually assaulted more women than he has nominated to become one-star admirals.

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— Missing The Point (@missingthept.bsky.social) June 1, 2026 at 1:28 PM

The senior navy officers that he targeted were set to become one-star admirals, in a process where they—alongside nearly two dozen others—were picked from hundreds of other eligible candidates, in a process meant to avoid politicization and rely on merits. (The Pentagon allows the Defense Secretary to strike names for limited reasons, such as an inability to lead for moral reasons.) Per the five officials that spoke to the outlet, Hegseth’s decision to unilaterally remove them was an unusual one.

Of the nine removed officers, three were women, two were Black men, and four were white men. The Daily Beast reports that nearly 60% of senior officers Hegseth has demoted in his post have been women or minorities—even though, as of 2023, women make up more than a fifth of active-duty military members, and about 38% of the Navy is made up of minorities. 

Alas, Hegseth seems to consider it his destiny to make the Pentagon an unconstitutional wasteland—and just this week banned journalists from entering its office, in a curious move to call it a “classified space.” Since joining the Trump administration, he’s also repeatedly removed women and people of color from leadership positions, ordered Pentagon reviews and fitness tests targeting women in combat, and in November, likely was the leading force in blocking a woman from her promotion.

So, yes, Hegseth is—once again—living up to the aspirations he once vocalized on a podcast in 2024, when he earnestly admitted he doesn’t believe women belong in the military. If only he knew he doesn’t belong in his office. 

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