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THE WEEK May 1, 2026

Edith Olmsted at TNR:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is continuing his discriminatory campaign to remake the U.S. military in his image. Last month, a list of nearly two dozen one-star promotions included no women and only two nonwhite officers. On Monday, The New York Times was able to reveal exactly how that happened. Hegseth personally intervened to block the promotion of several senior Navy officers, including at least two female officers and two Black male officers, four current and former defense officials told the paper.  

This is not the first time Hegseth has moved to block or delay the promotion of female and Black military officers. He did the same thing to Army officers in March, and has reportedly thwarted the advancements of more than one dozen female and Black officers across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and the Marines.  [...] Pentagon rules say that the secretary can only block promotions if there is an issue related to a service member’s fitness to lead—not their identities, or whatever other problem Hegseth seems to have with them. 

Wasn’t “fiscal responsibility” supposed to be your party’s whole thing