It’s been clear from his first days as secretary of defense that Pete Hegseth sees little place in the military’s senior officer corps for Black people and women. Recently, he’s only stiffened that impression.

In recent weeks, he blocked the promotion of eight Navy captains to the rank of admiral, three of whom were women, two of whom were Black. Of the 22 Navy officers promoted to admiral since Hegseth took the Pentagon’s helm, none have been women.

Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, condemned Hegseth’s actions, accusing him of “hollowing out the military’s bench of experienced and highest-performing senior officers while making young officers”—especially Black and female officers—“wonder if they should continue to serve.”

Hegseth’s recent actions fit a pattern. Among his first actions after the Senate just barely confirmed him, thanks to a tiebreaking vote by Vice President J.D. Vance, Hegseth fired the Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, and the Navy’s first-ever female top officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti—neither for any cause related to merit.

As a former Fox News host and retired Army major, Hegseth had loudly bemoaned the rise of “woke” politics and what he saw as affirmative-action promotions within the military. In one of his books, he raised questions about Brown’s promotion to chairman under President Joe Biden. “Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill?” Hegseth asked. “We’ll never know, but always doubt.”

It’s one thing to oppose affirmative action, but Hegseth seems to follow a policy of negative action. He assumes that just because top-ranking officers are Black or women, they got their job because of some quota.

Hegseth did not mention, either when he wrote his book or when he later fired him,........

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