"... the dismissal was tied to refusal to comply with Hegseth's directive to remove the 2 black and 2 female officers..."

[demmiblue]

April Come Pete Will
‪@peterlucier.bsky.social‬

Greg Jaffe Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt on the byline with a source on background saying the dismissal was tied to refusal to comply with Hegseth’s directive to remove the 2 black and 2 female officers from the promotion list to one star general

…

The tension with Mr. Hegseth was not rooted in substantive differences over the direction of the Army, military officials said. Rather it is the product of Mr. Hegseth’s long-running grievances with the Army, battles over personnel and his troubled relationship with Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll, the officials said.

Over the last year, General George and Mr. Driscoll had formed a tight partnership, officials said.

Mr. Hegseth has also clashed in recent months with General George and Mr. Driscoll over the defense secretary’s decision to block the promotion of four Army officers to be one-star generals.

Two of the officers targeted by Mr. Hegseth are Black and two are women on a promotion list that consisted of 29 other officers, most of whom are white men. Mr. Hegseth’s highly unusual decision to remove the officers prompted some senior military officials to question whether they were being singled out because of their race or gender, officials said.

Mr. Hegseth had been pressing Mr. Driscoll and General George for months to remove the officers from the promotion list. But Mr. Driscoll and General George refused, citing the officers’ long records of exemplary service.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/us/politics/hegseth-fires-general-randy-george.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YFA.r1Ll.aNgj-BU71dpT&smid=nytcore-ios-share