A group of Democratic lawmakers is pressing War Secretary Pete Hegseth for more information on his decision to remove several officers from consideration for promotion.
The Democratic senators urged Hegseth to clarify his “decision-making process and rationale for removing qualified Officers from promotion consideration” after the secretary made headlines for blocking several Navy officers’ promotions to one-star admirals in early June. Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ, and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) penned the letter sent to Hegseth on Monday.
“We recognize the importance of having the most qualified Officers serving in these positions of great responsibility,” the senators wrote in the letter shared with Punchbowl News. “While there are valid reasons to remove Officers from consideration for promotion for reasons that often involve sensitive or adverse information; public reports indicate your actions may be politically motivated, disregards the many achievements of these Officers, and shirks the idea of an apolitical military.”
Throughout his tenure, Hegseth has reportedly stepped in to block the promotions of several officers across multiple military branches as he works to reshape the Department of War. His latest move to halt Navy promotions caught the attention of the New York Times, which reported that Hegseth removed nine officers from the promotion list and noted that the group consisted of three women, two black men, and four white men.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in early June that any indication that the move to block the promotions had to do with race or gender was “race-baiting garbage.”
“As we’ve said before, military promotions are given to those who have earned them,” Parnell continued. “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.”
Hegseth has been open about his distaste for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and his insistence on a meritocracy-based environment at the Pentagon, saying in late April that his goal coming into the role was “to change the culture of the department.” He has also ousted several high-ranking officers from their positions, including the chief of staff of the Army, Gen. Randy George, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown.
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In the letter, the seven lawmakers asked Hegseth to specifically respond to seven questions, including, “What was your criteria for removing these Officers from the promotion consideration? How was it applied?”
The senators gave Hegseth a response deadline of Aug. 30.