Navy Promotion List Omits Women Officers After Hegseth Decision, Many Fear Career Setback

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth removed all women from a Navy promotion list, eliminating nine of 31 candidates for promotion from captain to rear admiral, including two Black men, according to a defense official. The decision means the Navy is not expected to promote any women to the one-star admiral rank this year. Several affected officers have raised concerns that the move could limit their prospects for further career advancement.

The Navy had selected 31 sailors for promotion from the rank of captain to one-star admiral through its standard board process. The official promotion list was released by the Pentagon on May 22. Hegseth’s intervention, first reported by The New York Times, was confirmed by multiple officials who said the removed officers included women, Black men and white men, some of whom had ties to military Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.

A Limit on How Far They Could Be Promoted

The Associated Press spoke with eight women Navy officers of different ranks and time in service, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of punishment from their superiors. The more junior officers said they saw the development as a sign that their careers would become politicized if they rose too far in the ranks, and some said they felt they now had a limit on how far they could be promoted. Some said it made them feel less valued within the military and questioned whether that was part of the process.

Women contribute to about one-quarter of all Navy officers and nearly one-third of the service’s midgrade ranks, making the complete absence of them in promotions to the one-star level this year, far more significant.

Pentagon had no Explanation
The Pentagon has not offered any answer on why the women, or any of the other six people, were removed from the promotion list. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on social media that promotions are awarded on merit and that the department would never consider gender or race as factors. Hegseth’s chief of staff, Ricky Buria, called the New York Times report “completely false.”

According to Pentagon rules, the defense secretary is technically only supposed to pull officers from a promotion list for moral, mental, physical or professional failings that raise questions about fitness to lead, making Hegseth’s intervention highly unusual, defense officials said.

A Pattern of Removing Senior Women Officers

Hegseth, shortly after taking office, fired Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the service’s top officer and the first woman to hold the position, without any explanation. He has also removed two other three-star admirals without giving any reason.

Last year, he reassigned Vice Admiral Yvette Davids, the first woman to lead the US Naval Academy, and removed Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield as the US military representative to the NATO Military Committee. Hegseth has long argued, without offering evidence, that women in the military benefit from preferential treatment and are not good for combat roles. In a speech last November, he said promotions had for too long been based on race, gender quotas and “historic so-called firsts.”

Broader Concerns About Politicization of Promotions

Katherine Kuzminski, a researcher specializing in military recruiting and retention at the Center for New American Security, suggested that the actions surrounding women in the military affect individual service member decision making and family unit decision making, influencing whether individuals have a military career.

Hegseth has also delayed the appointment of at least two dozen one-star Air Force officers to the two-star grade, while the Pentagon reviews their ties to diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The officers were chosen by two separate promotion boards that met in 2024 and 2025. The resulting Navy list, with Hegseth’s exclusions, is under White House review before being sent to the Senate for final approval.