WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and a group of Senate colleagues sent a letter to Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding answers following reports that several military officers had been denied promotions for political reasons.

According to reports, Hegseth personally blocked the promotions of eight Navy captains - including two female officers and two Black officers - who were up for promotion to one-star admiral. In their letter, the senators pressed for details on how these decisions were made and whether political factors, including the Administration's rollback of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs, influenced personnel decisions that are supposed to rest solely on merit and qualifications.

"We write concerning reports of your unprecedented decision to personally remove qualified officers from consideration for promotion to brigadier general, major general, and flag officer positions. These actions raise concerns regarding the criteria, process, and authorities used to make changes to promotion recommendations after completion of the highly regulated military promotion board process," wrote the senators.

The senators warned that these actions threaten the military's longstanding tradition of remaining apolitical and could take a toll on morale throughout the ranks.

"We recognize the importance of having the most qualified officers serving in these positions of great responsibility. While there are valid reasons to remove officers from consideration for promotion for reasons that often involve sensitive or adverse information, public reports indicate your actions may be politically motivated, disregard the many achievements of these officers, and undermine the principle of an apolitical military. Additionally, there are reports that your decisions are affecting morale among all ranks of officers," continued the senators.

Booker and Ossoff were joined in the letter by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

Read the senators' full letter to Hegseth here.