Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth struck down promotions for at least two female and two Black male Navy officers.
Hegseth, who has waged war on women and minorities within his department, removed the officers from the promotion list in a move that appears to violate the apolitical policy behind Navy promotions, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The revised promotion list includes no women and just two nonwhite officers—despite racial minorities making up 38 percent of active-duty Navy officers.
While President Donald Trump has decreed a purge of all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the federal government, Hegseth, whose own mother has accused him of abusing “many” women, has embarked on a personal demotion rampage targeting women and Black men.
As he has touted his “warrior ethos” makeover of the military, the former Fox News anchor has also routinely declined to explain why he has fired or demoted women and racial minorities—even as nearly 60 percent of senior officers he fired fall within those two categories.
“Females and people of color have been targeted,” one Pentagon insider told the Daily Beast in April. “They have lost jobs, had promotions denied, and been demoted. Most feel unjustly treated.”
Among those ousted last year were U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the former U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee; Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve as the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. Navy; Adm. Linda Fagan, the first woman to lead the U.S. Coast Guard; and Gen. Charles Brown Jr., the first Black chief of staff of the Air Force and the second Black general to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.
In response, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told the Daily Beast: “The Failing New York Times continues to push this worn-out narrative because they view almost everything through the lens of race and gender over merit. 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. Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, meritocracy reigns supreme at the War Department.”
While the concept of meritocracy may be apolitical and unbiased, Trump-loyalist, anti-woke Hegseth is undoubtedly not. The defense secretary has also weathered several accusations of violating the Constitution and eroding the separation of church and state.
Within the Pentagon, the Trump loyalist has launched a monthly Christian worship series and invited self-described Christian nationalist pastor Doug Wilson—who has supported repealing women’s right to vote and criminalizing homosexuality—to deliver a sermon in the Pentagon auditorium.
Hegseth, who has been married three times, has made no secret of his support for Wilson and his extreme views. Last August, he shared a CNN profile of Wilson in which the pastor advocated reinstating laws against homosexuality and argued that women’s priorities should be starting families and raising children.
