Hegseth Removes Four Officers from Army Promotion List

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has removed four Army officers from a promotion list for one-star general positions, an unusual intervention that has raised questions among military officials about the process's impartiality. The officers, two of whom are Black and two women, had been selected by a rigorous Army board in November 2024 from a pool where only about 5 percent of eligible colonels advance. The list, comprising around three dozen names mostly held by white men, is now under White House review before Senate approval.

Senior military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of personnel matters, said Hegseth had pressed Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll for months to strike the names, citing concerns over the officers' records. Driscoll refused, pointing to their decades of exemplary service. Earlier this month, Hegseth acted unilaterally to remove them, though officials noted uncertainty about his legal authority to do so. Under military regulations, the defense secretary typically reviews and approves or rejects an entire list to prevent politicization of individual selections.

Details on the removals emerged for at least two officers. One...