Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked the appointment of nine Air Force colonels to the one-star brigadier general rank and delayed the promotion of at least two dozen more senior officers, according to current and former U.S. officials who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. The moves are the latest instance of the Pentagon chief’s unusually direct involvement in the military’s senior officer promotion process, which has drawn scrutiny from officials and lawmakers.
The nine colonels whose appointments were blocked had been recommended for promotion by a board of generals, a highly competitive selection process governed by service-secretary “precepts” that typically prohibit decisions based on race, sex and other factors. The identities of those nine officers could not be determined, officials said. The delays affecting at least two dozen other one-star Air Force officers who were being considered for promotion to the two-star grade stem from a Pentagon review of the officers’ ties to diversity, equity and inclusion policies, the people said.
Officials said concerns have emerged in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that Hegseth is targeting officers for their race or gender, their association with previous administration DEI policies, or for being insufficiently loyal. The Pentagon released a list of 17 names out of 26 originally recommended for one-star Air Force promotions in an emailed memorandum dated May 19 and obtained by the Wall Street Journal. Of those 17 names, only one is a woman and none are Black.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said military promotions are based solely on merit. “The Department of Defense will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions,” Parnell said in a statement. He said that anyone who questions merit-based promotions should reconsider their values and that promotions based purely on race or gender were unjustifiable.
One officer whose promotion has been held up is Brig. Gen. Otis Jones, who is serving as the Air Force’s chief of safety, a role typically held by a two-star officer, according to one of the officials. Another is Brig. Gen. Kirsten Aguilar, the commandant of the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at the National Defense University. Aguilar had been tapped to serve as the commander of Air Force District Washington, but when she did not receive a two-star promotion on the expected schedule, she lost the position to a different candidate, the official said. Jones and Aguilar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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 in 2025, he has fired or sidelined more than 20 flag officers, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. C.Q. Brown, who is Black, and the first female chief of naval operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti. He has also blocked and delayed promotions in the Army and Navy; 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.
Some current and former officials have privately questioned whether Hegseth’s actions violate federal law. Under U.S. code, only the president may remove the name of an officer recommended for promotion. The defense secretary can recommend that names be removed for cause, but such a recommendation must be submitted to the president in writing. It is not clear whether Hegseth has followed that process.
The Pentagon argues that civilian leaders are granted the authority to choose which admirals or generals advise them on military matters, a position that Parnell reiterated when he said that anyone questioning merit-based promotions should reconsider their values.