The Department of War on Thursday dismissed Sen. Mark Kelly’s accusation that Pete Hegseth targeted women and Black officers, saying promotion decisions are based on merit rather than race or gender.
Sean Parnell and Joel Valdez, in statements the department cited, said the Pentagon would never use a service member’s skin color or sex in promotion decisions and defended a merit-based standard.
Kelly, an Arizona Democrat and Armed Services Committee member, said Hegseth’s team had repeatedly fired women and Black personnel and warned the moves could drive experienced officers to leave mid-career.
His criticism pointed to the 2025 removals of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti during a broader Pentagon leadership shake-up whose specific rationale was not publicly detailed.
The dispute reflects a wider fight over military personnel policy under Trump and Hegseth, who have argued that advancement based on identity amounts to poor leadership.