India, March 27 -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has personally blocked four Army officers from becoming one-star generals. Two are Black and two are women. And the reasons emerging from inside the Pentagon are raising serious questions about what's actually driving these decisions.

According to The New York Times, based on interviews with 11 current and former military and administration officials, Hegseth struck four names from the list which was being put together after a competitive board process in November 2024. Only about 5 percent of eligible colonels ever make it to general which means that these were already among the best officers in the service.

Pete Hegseth has made his goal clear since he arrived at the Pentagon that he w...