US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has found himself at the center of a high-profile scandal after the decision to remove four candidates from the list for promotion to the rank of one-star general. These are two black officers and two women, including veterans of combat operations in Afghanistan with an exemplary reputation.
After these changes, the list remained mostly light-skinned men, which caused a wave of discussions about possible racial and gender discrimination in the Pentagon.
According to American media, Hegseth had been pressuring Army Secretary Dan Driscoll for several months, demanding that these candidates be removed. Driscoll repeatedly refused to carry out the order, citing the outstanding combat experience and impeccable service of the officers.
In the end, the head of the defense department personally removed the names from the list, although the legality of such unilateral actions remains in question.
“The leftists captured the army quickly, and we must return it even faster. We must storm. A rapid counterattack, in broad daylight,” Pete Hegseth emphasized.
Now the updated list must be reviewed by the White House, after which the Senate must vote on its composition. The presidential administration itself refused to comment on specific cases of officers being removed, but expressed support for the general course of the Secretary of Defense.
The press secretary said that Hegseth is carrying out President Trump’s instructions to restore the principles of meritocracy in the military.
“The Secretary is doing a tremendous job of restoring meritocracy in the ranks of the Pentagon, as the President ordered,” she noted.
This is happening against the backdrop of the closure of programs that previously guaranteed equal opportunities for competing for high positions regardless of race or gender. The situation is exacerbated by previous incidents related to Hegseth’s environment. In particular, his advisers have previously criticized the appointment of representatives of national minorities to leadership positions, stating that the president would not want to see them next to him at official events.
Currently, statistics indicate significant changes in the demographic composition of the high command of the US armed forces. Almost all the heads of services, the head and deputy head of the military command, as well as the majority of regional commanders are now light-skinned men. Critics believe that such a policy could lead to the loss of experienced personnel and undermine unity in the multinational units of the US army.
