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NAACP, NWLC and 31 Organizations Raise Deep Concerns About Sec. Hegseth’s Reported Interference in Promotions of African Americans and Women Serving in Our Nation’s Armed Forces
NAACP, NWLC and 31 Organizations Raise Deep Concerns About Sec. Hegseth’s Reported Interference in Promotions of African Americans and Women Serving in Our Nation’s Armed Forces
Dear Secretary Hegseth:
The NAACP, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most widely recognized grassroots civil rights organization, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), a national advocacy organization that has worked for over 50 years to advance and protect women’s equality and opportunity, and the undersigned 31 organizations committed to civil rights and equal opportunity are deeply concerned about reports indicating that you have personally blocked the promotions of African Americans and women serving in our nation’s military, without any explanation and seemingly without cause. Your unprecedented interference corresponds with a drop in the percentage of women nominated for high-ranking promotions, which is now at its lowest level in over two decades, and many qualified Black candidates have seen their opportunities blocked.1 We call on you to comply with congressional requests for oversight. The American public deserves to know whether their Secretary of Defense is making decisions in compliance with our laws and based on the skills and experiences of our service members or if his decisions are driven by racial and gender stereotypes.
Read the full letter and list of signers here.
1 C.J Robinson, Women’s Share of Top Military Promotions Falls as Hegseth Blocks Nominees, The New York Times, Aug. 6, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/upshot/military-promotions-womenhegseth.html?partner=slack&smid=sl-share.
