Hegseth Personally Struck Black and Female Officers from Promotion List
Hegseth personally removed 2 Black men and 2 women from the Army's brigadier general promotion list after the Army Secretary repeatedly refused. His chief of staff said "Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth personally struck the names of four Army officers — two Black men and two women — from a one-star general promotion list containing roughly three dozen officers, most of them white men. He had pressured Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll for months to remove the names. Driscoll repeatedly refused, citing their decades of exemplary service. Hegseth then removed the names himself.
The targeting was specific and revealing:
- A Black armor officer and combat veteran was targeted because of an academic paper he wrote nearly 15 years ago examining why Black officers historically chose support roles over combat positions
- A female logistics officer was targeted because she served in Afghanistan during the 2021 withdrawal
- Hegseth's chief of staff Ricky Buria also tried to block Maj. Gen. Antoinette Gant, a Black woman, from leading the Military District of Washington, saying "Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events"
Under military regulations, the Defense Secretary is supposed to approve or reject a promotion list as a whole — not cherry-pick individual names. This protocol exists specifically to prevent discrimination and politicization of the officer corps. Senior officials within Hegseth's own office debated for months whether he had the legal authority to strike individual names; the consensus was that he likely does not.
This extends a systematic pattern. Since taking office, Hegseth has fired or sidelined at least two dozen generals and admirals, including Gen. CQ Brown (Joint Chiefs Chairman, second Black man in the role), Adm. Lisa Franchetti (first female Navy chief), and multiple female flag officers at NATO and the Naval Academy.
Richard Brookshire of the Black Veterans Project: "The depth of Secretary Hegseth's prejudice is only overshadowed by the breadth of his incompetence. The Trump administration is intent on instituting a caste system across our military."
Sen. Jack Reed: "If these reports are accurate, Secretary Hegseth's decision is not only outrageous, it would be illegal."