Secretary Hegseth Removed All Three Female Officers From a Slate Set to Receive Promotions

A recent move by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth "disproportionately targets women and minority officers" from being promoted to the positions they have worked incredibly hard for. Hegseth recently removed all three female officers from a slate of 22 Navy officers set to become one-star admirals. He gave absolutely no explanation as to why he made this unprecedented decision.

Hegseth blocking the promotions of these women means that every one of the officers slated to become one-star admirals is male despite the fact that women make up 21% of active-duty Navy personnel. Further, the list now includes only 2 nonwhite officers while racial minorities constitute 38% of the active-duty Navy. The Pentagon has claimed time and time again that the military does not consider factors other than competency when doling out promotions.

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, recently explicitly stated that "Military promotions are given out to those who have earned them." This statement seems to imply that these women were blocked from promotion because they were not qualified or had not 'earned them.' In order to test the validity of that assumption, let us look at the process these 22 candidates went through. First, a board of admirals or generals go through the files of hundreds of officers. Only around 5% of these people are chosen. The list then goes to the service secretaries and ultimately the defense secretary, who, according to Pentagon rules, is only supposed to deny promotions based on "moral, mental, physical, or professional failings that raise questions about the officers' fitness to lead." To have even gotten to the list of 22 is an incredible feat. Being chosen for this list is so hard that it is considered the most competitive board in the U.S. military. Obviously, these women would not have been chosen if they did not go above and beyond the expectations set out before them.

While this newest development is certainly unprecedented, it aligns with recent measures implemented by Secretary Hegseth. He continues to insist that "gender and demographic engineering" have decreased the effectiveness of the U.S. military, even if he has no evidence to prove this claim. Since taking office, his actions have overtly targeted women and minorities risking their lives to serve their country. Nearly 60% of the officials Hegseth has fired have been female or Black.

Hegseth has refused to explain these firings, which continues to cause distrust and increased unpredictability for officers and senior officials alike. The military community is taking notice, and many are increasingly outraged by these targeted attacks. In an interview with The Hill, former Air Force secretary Frank Kendall affirmed that blocking these promotions is "sending a really negative message to everybody who's not a white male." He also noted that "this is in my experience, unprecedented."

Kendall is right to be worried — the military has never been the most equal of institutions. Women have had to fight incredibly hard since the very beginning of our nation to serve alongside men. These women overcame great adversity because they felt the need to stand up for the country they loved and defend the freedoms of us all. Women have put in the work in every role imaginable in the military, and have led with incredible integrity and grace. To block the promotions of strong and extremely qualified women sends the message that their service, and more broadly the service of women, is just not as important. Their sacrifice does not deserve the same recognition as that of white men. This message is harmful, and this message is dangerous. The military, and further this country, would not be what it is today without the brave women who have fought for our freedoms throughout each and every conflict in our nation's history.

So, how do we fight back against this blatant attack on women in the military? The Equal Rights Amendment is where we start. The ERA would give women in the military the legal foundation they need to demand answers — and to challenge policies that target them without justification. It would compel top officials to explain why these women were singled out, create a constitutional basis for contesting unfair firings and blocked promotions, and open the door to the broader protections that follow when equal rights are enshrined in law. The ERA doesn't end the fight. It gives women the tools to start it.

Women in the military are increasingly being treated unfairly and targeted by unreasonable anti-diversity politics. Servicewomen deserve to be treated equally and appreciated just as much as men. Servicewomen deserve the Equal Rights Amendment. Sign our pledge today to show your support: https://bit.ly/PledgeERA