Pete Hegseth blocks Navy promotions, targets women and Black officers
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has blocked at least 40 senior military promotions this year, pausing multiple Navy admiral nominations and withholding confirmations for officers headed to general and flag ranks. About half of the promotions Hegseth paused were women or officers from minority groups, and the moves followed a secret internal vetting process that screened candidates for views and public statements. The action removes experienced leaders from consideration, centralizes promotion control in the Pentagon, and risks weakening both diversity in senior command and operational readiness by sidelining officers recommended by military selection boards.
pete hegseth is engaged in open racial discrimination against black officers. the clear message is that there is no place for black or women leadership in his military
jamelle1090merit, you see, is when you ignore the qualifications of an officer and deny them a promotion because they are black, and promote a less qualified alternative because he is white
hotelalhamra.bsky.social38The poor institutionalist NYT can never just come out and say what we all know is true. Hegseth is not engaged in a “war on diversity” he is a member of misogynistic white Christian nationalist religious cult. He is openly promoting white supremacy (and Christian nationalism) in the military.
DisheveldYoshi30“War on diversity” is a crazy way to refer to neo-segregationists doing Jim Crow shit
Maia26actually racism in professional settings is *only* dei. i am a centrist pundit making 6 million dollars a year
atrapter.bsky.social24calling it a "war on diversity" is really just intentionally obfuscating what is going on here
Robert Wilde212029 Democratic trifecta should pass legislation authorizing civil lawsuits against him for this.
redlishka9.bsky.social20Five bucks says he was passed over for promotion while in the ranks and believes it was because of his race and gender and not because he is a an utter and complete tool. Now he gets his “revenge” by making the military less prepared than ever.
Richard E Frankel16Whiskey Pete is one of the best examples you can find to disprove the notion of white supremacy.
Wedge Antilles 🇨🇴🇺🇸9F'ing republicans, man. Their racism and misogyny is just so disgusting. I don't get why and how they get off on this.
Kathryn of Tarth7His ASSUMPTION that women and POC got there because of WOKEness (as HE defines that) is racism, AND sexism incarnate. He has NO idea that to be WOKE means to be enlightened about how things work in society, which of course he isn’t. It’s pure dramatic irony for him to invoke wokeness at all.
Dona Dickinson6Denying these promotions makes us lose wonderful leaders. Tammy Duckworth Lloyd Austin Just two examples of leaders he would have stopped. This is egregiously wrong for our country and our military. He should be impeached and removed.
Pop-up Leftist Cwab Depot6It’s a clear violation of the law, but all the mechanisms that are supposed to enforce those laws are also in the hands of white supremacists.
Colin Elves6Okay, so reading between the lines he’s saying that white guys are just inherently less capable than everyone else. They just can’t compete if there’s any competition at all.
Jack Brand6Pete Hegseth pontificating about people unqualified for their position is beyond peak irony.
Andy Lewis/The Optionist5I hate the NYT framing of this. Implicit in the "war on diversity" headline is the idea that these promotions were based on that. Why not "Hegseth's campaign to desegregate the military" or more accurately "Hegseth's racist campaign ..."?
Jennifer Lee 🪁5I keep waiting for him to get fired. I’m surprised Trump hasn’t blamed him for Iran.
Renee (paix120)5Sounds like something a guy with white nationalist tattoos would do with that kind of power
donpatriot.bsky.social5In my heart of hearts this is the guy I’ll most enjoy seeing thrown in prison for the rest of his fucking life.
Silly B Man4Literally every white GOFO will need to put in for retirement on January 21, 2029. They are automatically suspect. Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.
MaryM4It is not a war on diversity. It is blatant misogyny and racism.
#LestWeForget4Put an openly racist, homophobic misogynistic alcoholic in charge and none of this should be any surprise. The US has become a cesspool run by a gang of quacks and con artists #RapistInCharge #PedoPresident #GOPComplicit #ReleaseTheTrumpEpsteinFiles.
Allan Schlosser4Hegseth equal parts fascist, racist, misogynist and xenophobe. Then there's that little matter of being manifestly unqualified.
Mike Lowder4And not a single GOP member of congress cares.
Uno4When Hegseth talks about merit, I always remember his mom had to save his nomination, his brother has an office next to him in the pentagon, and his wife attends sensitive military meetings with him.
Julie Hotard Ph.D., writer, effects of disinfo on social systems3Yes. It also goes beyond that. Even ppl who are pro-COVID vaccines or attended diversity events. Authoritarians start by scapegoating a few groups. But they aim to control every1. They just don't admit it bc "I aim to control every1, including U" is a poor campaign slogan bsky.app/profile/donm...
Liz N3We are living in the planned destruction of not only our own nation but we're taking down others as well.
Adam O3This, plus the outrageous waste of bombs and missiles in Iran and the Caribbean, will set our military back decades. China is laughing their ass off.
Harriet T is my hero3On top of being openly racist and misogynistic, hegseth is a mass murderer and war criminal. The senate can freeze his travel budget?
wrestlingdad1975.bsky.social3Pete would have been friendly fired upon multiple times, such a fake tough guy
BullmastiffLA3about those tattoos... always assume the worst.
Jeff Terflinger2Yep, he's a white nationalist racist.
Seulement Moi2How big would the armed forces be if every non-white, non-male simply let their contacts expire?
JEJ 🇺🇸 ❤️📚2Looking forward eagerly to the day when there is no place in the US military for Hegseth.
AllCaps-222Not a war on diversity. A war on competency.
Regina Schrambling 2Someone needs to tell him "just following orders" is no defense.
Feathered Stone2Look Republicans if you don’t want us to call your racist stop doing racist shit
ALi2Where did all these fragile white men come from?
NO OBEYANCE IN ADVANCE2Hegseth thinks he's just better than a black man.
philipfrankenfeld.bsky.social2The target for this? Warrantedly insecure white people who are no longer advantaged by their skin color in a meritocratic, increasingly technologically complicated, dynamic, changing society. Your. Free. Ride. Is. Over.
Patricia2Denying men and women the ability to advance their careers, after they have clearly made the choice to be career military, is ignorant and cruel. They have put in the same work as white men have, and deserve the same accolades and promotions.
Mr. Spookytime Grift2Bright side: once this shitstain regime is gone, we're gonna need to fire a lot of the assholes who went along with it, leaving lots of openings for new promotions.
Emily Green2Copying gift link here: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/u...
Linda Magid2I don't love the title with the word "diversity." Make is sound like a battle over an idea rather than policy that impacts real people with real jobs as well as our national security.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump are re-segregating the American military by race and sex Secret Vetting and Blocked Promotions: Inside Hegseth’s War on Diversity www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/u...
zoophagous.bsky.social8What they're doing is disgraceful. I'm also confident they will fail. I was in the Marines under Regan. It was a true meritocracy. The majority of the men and women I served under were Vietnam vets and they did not tolerate even a whiff of racism. That was nearly 50 years ago.
accidentalflyer 🇨🇦🇹🇼🇺🇦5Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump are making sure if the US gets into a peer-level war, America will lose.
kimdrury2.bsky.social4And the headline leaves out the real news " . . . endangering our military readiness."
Grungehamster4Following in the footsteps of Woodrow Wilson.
Susan loves democracy3And this article should be titled: War on Competency.
C C Humphrey3They have absolute contempt for women and non-white people
whykiki.bsky.social3They think white men should own everyone and run everything. If they had their way, PoC and women couldn't vote and women would be legally required to have children and stay married against their will.
L. Guapo2Do they even deny this?
weknew.bsky.social2Bitter, incompetent, sociopathic, passed-over Major ruining the lives of patriots and professional soldiers is a really crappy timeline to be in.
Pilotken2Hegseth partially getting revenge for his military career stalling, lots in common with his boss blaming everyone else for his obvious failures
"So far this year, Mr. Hegseth has blocked the promotions of at least 40 senior officers to general and admiral ranks. About half of those are women or members of minority groups." This is an unprecedented effort to whitewash military leadership. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/u...
Don Moynihan124This is politicization: Hegseth had a secret process to create oppo files on military nominees. "Once the reviews led by each military service were complete, Mr. Hegseth’s staff conducted their own searches to make sure that the services had not missed or intentionally ignored anything."
sandy2012.bsky.social7The very first impeachment should be Hegseth. it’s So obvious he has to go. Then Patel. I’m thinking Trump would resign before it’s his turn. I know. Wishful thinking.
experimental22.bsky.social6Please look at that photo. It is white nationalism in action. The one nonwhite person is one of those being targeted by MAGA Klansman Pete Hegseth. For Hegseth, only white males are actual humans. Everyone else is an inferior being.
In related news about half the US military is women and people of color. White male just under 50%. Is he blocking ALL promotions, except white males?
Lori Barnett3“White”wash being the operative words.
Diane in Ohio3Do we need any more proof of their racism and misogyny?
DeMooper2I hope if Dems win in 2028 the first thing the Sec Def does is promote all those who were screwed over. I hope the second thing she does is review the semi competent MAGAs who were unfairly promoted.
Pete Hegseth is ignoring a framework set in place by Congress and military boards to advance a racist agenda. He is engaging in viewpoint discrimination: refusing to advance candidates for relatively anondyne statements related to diversity, equity and inclusion, www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/u....
Professa Murray39Again, I would begin the process of impeachment against Hegseth on Day 1: he has ignored Congressional orders, he is conducting kill-strikes in the Caribbean, he conducted strikes that violate war powers, and he got us into a losing war in Iran. He is a disaster.
Professa Murray23We should call this what is: it is McCarthyite witch hunt and we need to stop it dead before it effects our military preparation.
Professa Murray23And all this lecturing about “merit” coming from a man creditably accused of rape, corruption, and who is only qualification appears to be he is was on Fox, is galling to say the least.
Ryan5Maybe time to stop confirming weak, pathetic racist clowns to leadership positions
gingkotree06.bsky.social2The entire trump kakistocracy must be ousted and punished. They cannot be allowed to continue their destruction of the USA. The American people have suffered enough due to felon rapist trump and his ugly racist outlaw agenda. Impeach, remove, convict and imprison trump now!
It's almost painful how simple and obvious the motivations of our current slate of villains are. Everything about Hegseth can be traced back to one simple fact: he is mediocre and cannot accept that reality. So he blames everyone else for his own failures. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/u...
Amanda Marcotte78I mean, insecurity is the engine that runs MAGA. I see a lot of folks on the left who want it to be more interesting than that, because it's also ego-bruising to have lost to people who are so painfully dull, stupid, and simple. But dumbasses come in huge numbers, and solidarity works.
He would need to improve quite a bit just to bring mediocrity into view.
Lenticular Kittens3It's seems like a lot of conservatism is based on making your hangups everyone else's problem
Jack Hanford the Manford2I’m sorry but this is way too reductive. He is far more complicated than that and it’s (frankly) misandry to pretend like he isn’t. He also hates his mom
In April, Pete Hegseth makes flu vaccine optional for armed services, saying vaccine mandates "weaken our warfighting capabilities." ~60% of Air Force doesn't get vaccinated. Two months later, flu outbreak races thru big Air Force base. Air Force re-implements mandatory vaccine policy at base.
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗24I'm not certain, but as far as I can tell this is the first major flu outbreak at a US military facility since the US licensed the initial inactivated influenza virus vaccine in 1945. (Corrections welcomed if I've missed something.)
Halfbroke Horsewoman 🌻🏇🌻2Not for nothing, it’s June. You have to be darned unlucky AND be unvaccinated to come down with influenza in June. Guessing there’s no HEPA filter in the HVAC system either.
