1. United States
2. Utah
3. Letter

Pete Hegseth needs to be removed as Secretary of Defense. His pattern of blocking promotions for female and Black officers — more than a dozen across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines — is a direct violation of Pentagon rules, which only permit the secretary to block promotions for fitness-related reasons. This isn't a policy disagreement. It's discrimination, and it's illegal. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled 2-1 that Hegseth's transgender military ban was motivated by animus. That ruling, combined with his documented targeting of officers by race and gender, and his decision to ban journalists from the Pentagon press office by declaring it a "classified space," paints a clear picture of someone unfit for this office. Our military's strength depends on promoting the best people. Hegseth is undermining that for ideological reasons. Congress has both the authority and the obligation to act.