War Secretary Pete Hegseth recently blocked the promotions of several Navy officers who had been selected by a board of senior admirals to be promoted to one-star admirals.Hegseth, who has long touted his belief that the military should be a meritocracy, blocked the promotions of nine Navy officers, according to the New York Times. Of those nine officers, three of the officers are women, two are black men, and four are white men.
Traditionally, defense secretaries have the authority to intervene in the promotions list for cause, but it’s unusual that Hegseth has now done this for both the Army and the Navy’s most recent promotions to the one-star rank.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell disputed on Monday that the decision had to do with the officers’ gender or race.
“More race-baiting garbage from the Failing New York Times and its radical left reporters. They continue to push this worn out narrative because they view almost everything through the lens of race and gender over merit,” Parnell said on social media.
“As we’ve said before, military promotions are given to those who have earned them. The Department will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions,” he continued. “Under President Trump and [Secretary] Hegseth, meritocracy reigns supreme at the War Department.”
