Officials Warn Hegseth's Controversial Role in Promotions Could 'Cast a Shadow' Over Military System

U.S. officials are warning that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's incident in military promotions could "cast a shadow" over the armed forces, raising concerns that a system long designed to be apolitical is being altered in ways that could affect trust across the ranks, as a new sprawling report from NBC News has revealed.

"Our officer corps trusts our promotion process," a retired senior military officer told the outlet, adding that intervention in the process without an explanation "will certainly cast a shadow across our officer corps that everything they have said, done, and written about during their careers could be politicized in a career-ending manner with the stroke of a pen."

The concerns follow moves to block or delay the advancement of more than a dozen senior officers across the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, according to U.S. officials familiar with the process who spoke to NBC News. Several of those affected are Black or women, and some officials said candidates were stalled despite having no record of misconduct or pending investigations.

In one case, Hegseth removed four officers—two Black and two women—from a list of candidates for promotion to one-star general, a step described by current and former officials as highly unusual. Promotion lists are typically generated by independent boards and reviewed through a structured process, with defense secretaries rarely removing individual names.

Officials added that Hegseth's incident has extended across all military branches. "There is not a single service that has been immune to this level of involvement," one official said.

Some officials expressed concern that factors beyond performance may be influencing decisions. Among the attributes cited in certain cases were past support for COVID-19 policies, involvement in diversity initiatives, or perceived alignment with figures from the previous administration, including Mark Milley.

Hegseth has publicly criticized diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and has argued that promotions should be based strictly on merit. A Pentagon spokesperson rejected the reporting, calling it "fake news" and stating that "meritocracy... is apolitical and unbiased."

Still, the claims appear to be testing long-standing norms within the military. Senior officials told The New York Times last week that it is exceedingly rare for a defense secretary to intervene at this level in promotion decisions, particularly by seeking to remove individual officers from board-selected lists.