June 05, 2026
Can the Secretary of Defense Remove Admirals from a Promotion List?
This article was originally published in Just Security.
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported this week that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth personally removed up to nine officers—including three women and two Black men—from the Navy’s list of officers selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half). And as this article was in production, the Wall Street Journal reported that Hegseth blocked the promotion of nine senior Air Force officers, and delayed the promotion of dozens more. I will focus the weight of my analysis on the law and procedures involving the Navy, which I handled as part of my portfolio on Personnel Law in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps when I worked at the Pentagon.
At stake is whether Congress’s carefully constructed promotion system can continue to serve its core purpose: ensuring that advancement to the military’s highest ranks is based on professional merit and lawful process rather than shifting political preferences. If the governing rules can be disregarded without explanation, confidence in the integrity and independence of the officer promotion system will inevitably and substantially erode.
These Naval officers had already been selected by a lawfully constituted selection board of senior admirals through one of the most competitive processes in the U.S. military. The removals raise serious legal questions: Did Secretary Hegseth comply with the law and his own delegated authority from the President when he removed these individuals?
Read the full article in Just Security.
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