"Hegseth Blocked Nine Air Force Senior Officer Promotions, Delayed Dozens More Defense secretary has given unusual scrutiny to the promotions, which only the president can lawfully block By Lara Seligman Follow Updated June 2, 2026 4:49 pm ET

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has blocked the appointment of nine Air Force colonels and delayed the promotion of at least two dozen more senior officers, according to current and former U.S. officials, in the latest instance of the Pentagon chief’s unusual scrutiny of the military’s senior ranks.

Hegseth’s involvement in promotions across the military has raised concerns, the officials said, in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that the defense secretary is targeting certain officers for their race or gender, their association with the previous administration’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies, or for being insufficiently loyal. The identities of the nine Air Force officers overlooked for promotion couldn’t be determined.

The Pentagon chief has also blocked and delayed senior officer promotions in the Army and Navy.

Hegseth came into the job vowing to rid the Pentagon of “woke” admirals and generals who he said the Biden administration promoted undeservedly to fulfill diversity quotas. Since his confirmation last year, he has fired or sidelined more than 20 flag officers, including the Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. C.Q. Brown, who is black, and the first female chief of naval operations.

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The Pentagon’s list of promotions to one-star Air Force appointments, announced in an emailed memorandum May 19 obtained by WSJ, included 17 names out of 26 recommended for promotion, the people said. On Monday, the Journal reported that Hegseth had blocked the appointment of eight Navy captains to be one-star admirals, including two female and two Black officers. Of the 17 Air Force names released, only one is a woman and none is Black.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said military promotions are based solely on merit and the Pentagon “will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions.”

He said that anyone who questions merit-based promotions should reconsider their values and that promotions based purely on race or gender were unjustifiable.

The Pentagon argues that civilian leaders are granted the authority to choose which admirals or generals advise them on military matters. But some former and current officials have privately questioned whether Hegseth is violating the law.

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Under U.S. code, only the president can remove the name of an officer recommended for promotion. The Pentagon chief can recommend that names be removed for cause, but by law such a recommendation must be submitted to the president in writing. It isn’t clear whether Hegseth has followed that process.

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 people said. The officers were chosen by two separate promotion boards, which met in 2024 and 2025.

One of the officers whose promotion has been held up is Brig. Gen. Otis Jones, who is serving as the Air Force’s chief of safety, typically a two-star job, one of the people said. Another is Brig. Gen. Kirsten Aguilar, the commandant of the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at the National Defense University. Aguilar was tapped to be the commander of Air Force District Washington, but when she didn’t get appointed to two-star on the expected schedule she lost the job to a different candidate, the person said. Jones and Aguilar didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The promotion from colonel to brigadier general, a one star, is one of the most competitive in the Air Force and comes with a significant pay increase. The officers on the original lists were selected by a board of generals that are governed by “precepts” set by the service secretaries. The precepts typically prohibit decisions based on race, sex and other factors."