NYT – Secret Vetting and Blocked Promotions: Inside Hegseth’s War on Diversity
BLUF – The article reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth personally intervened to remove several officers from Navy flag promotion lists after they had been selected by statutory promotion boards, with current and former officials telling the New York Times that the officers removed disproportionately included women and minority officers. For Navy Medicine, the story is significant because confidence in a merit-based and predictable promotion system is a key factor in retaining senior healthcare leaders, and continued scrutiny of promotion decisions could influence perceptions of career progression among officers competing for executive leadership positions.