Duckworth Pushes For Clarity And Due Process For Exemplary Military Officers Whose Promotions Are Blocked By Pete Hegseth

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)—is pushing to require the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) by law to provide clarity and due process to officers whose promotions are withheld, delayed or removed, including the more than 40 whose careers were already blocked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. In her letter, Duckworth urged SASC and U.S. House Armed Services Committee (HASC) leadership to adopt a requirement in the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for clear written notice and justification to affected officers about these life-altering decisions, which Hegseth has failed to provide them. Duckworth also slammed Hegseth for blocking promotions to an alarming number of minority and female servicemembers who were already determined by independent military boards to be warriors deserving of promotion based on merit.

“Secretary Hegseth has disproportionately withheld the promotion of women and people of color, sidelining talented servicemembers and attacking the long-standing merit-based promotion board system of the U.S. Department of Defense,” wrote Duckworth.

She continued, “The Services have so far haphazardly notified officers via different mediums, sometimes only verbally, failing to provide affected officers with fulsome justifications for why their promotions are being affected. In many cases, exemplary officers have found out about their promotion decisions through the press. This is a disgraceful mistreatment of our heroes in uniform that brings shame to our Nation.”

Providing written notification, Duckworth notes, is not just a matter of basic respect to our heroes, but also vital to their prospects of remaining in the Armed Forces and for future employment opportunities.

“Dozens of Colonels, Captains, one-star general and flag officers and their families—who honorably served our country for over 20 years—have been left in limbo,” Duckworth continued. “Without written notification about these promotion decisions, they are left with limited recourse to submit written appeals for reconsideration and without anything in writing to share with potential future employers as they are effectively forced out of serving their country in uniform.”

Duckworth highlights how Hegseth’s shameful mistreatment of our heroes has shed light on a flaw in current law whereby DoD is not always required to provide written notification to servicemembers whose promotions have been withheld, delayed or removed by the Secretary of Defense or Service Secretaries. The Senator calls on SASC and HASC leadership to adopt language in the upcoming NDAA conference period that would address this deficiency. This new requirement would also apply retroactively to January 2025 to ensure due process to all officers whose promotions were unilaterally blocked during the Trump Administration.

Duckworth concluded, “Senior military officers, who have risked life and limb over decades of service, deserve transparency when the President, the Secretary of Defense or Service Secretaries decide to unilaterally remove, delay or withhold them from the promotion list and cap their careers at O-6 or O-7. We owe our heroes and their families at least that much for their sacrifice.”

Full text of the letter is available on Senator Duckworth’s website and below:

Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reed, Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Smith:

As you prepare to conference the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), I respectfully urge you to retain Sections 501 and 502 of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) NDAA in the final bill and strengthen those sections by adding language that would require timely written notification within seven days, including a clear justification and basis for the decision, to the affected individual officer when said officer is subject of a promotion withhold, delay or removal.

Since January 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has removed at least 40 officers from the one- and two-star promotion lists after a promotion board reviewed these officers’ records and independently determined that they demonstrated exemplary service that warranted promotion to the General or Flag Officer ranks. Secretary Hegseth has disproportionately withheld the promotion of women and people of color, sidelining talented servicemembers and attacking the long-standing merit-based promotion board system of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

Affected officers have been left without clear justification for these life-altering decisions. The Services have so far haphazardly notified officers via different mediums, sometimes only verbally, failing to provide affected officers with fulsome justifications for why their promotions are being affected. In many cases, exemplary officers have found out about their promotion decisions through the press. This is a disgraceful mistreatment of our heroes in uniform that brings shame to our Nation.

The effect on servicemembers is chilling. Dozens of Colonels, Captains, one-star general and flag officers and their families—who honorably served our country for over 20 years—have been left in limbo. Without written notification about these promotion decisions, they are left with limited recourse to submit written appeals for reconsideration and without anything in writing to share with potential future employers as they are effectively forced out of serving their country in uniform.

Irrespective of statute, regulation or policy, Secretary Hegseth’s disrespectful and dishonorable treatment of American officers who have dedicated their lives to serving in the U.S. Armed Forces is clearly wrong.

However, this egregious aberrant failure of leadership has revealed the reality that current law, regulation and policy is unacceptably vague regarding when and how DoD is required to notify affected officers about why their promotions are withheld, delayed or removed. The NDAA should be amended to directly address this deficiency.

Specifically, I recommend that this legislative addition require at least the following information be provided in writing to the servicemember:

1. A detailed justification and basis for the decision;
2. The officer’s sequence number out of the officers selected in the officer’s given category;
3. A redacted copy of the Promotion Selection Board Results listing the officer’s name; and
4. Confirmation that the relevant Promotion Selection Board followed all relevant statutes, U.S. Department of Defense policies and the Service’s policies.

In addition, I request inclusion of a requirement that DoD establish a process whereby the Board for Correction of Military Records, under Chapter 79 of Title 10, expeditiously consider requests to adjust any portion of a servicemember’s record where the servicemember shows harm or injustice as a result of having been selected for promotion but withheld for reasons other than substantiated or alleged misconduct.

Finally, these statutory requirements must apply retroactively to January 20, 2025, to ensure adequate due process to all officers. Senior military officers, who have risked life and limb over decades of service, deserve transparency when the President, the Secretary of Defense or Service Secretaries decide to unilaterally remove, delay or withhold them from the promotion list and cap their careers at O-6 or O-7.

We owe our heroes and their families at least that much for their sacrifice.