The Job Qualifications for Hegseth’s Military? Straight. White. Male.

On Tuesday, House Republicans blocked a remarkable effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth led by a lone GOP legislator and supported by Democrats. The eight articles alleged that Hegseth violated the Constitution by waging war against Iran without congressional authorization, unlawfully capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and launching strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean, among other charges. But the impeachment efforts failed.

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In his time as defense secretary, Hegseth has not only helped push the US into a deeply unpopular war with Iran, but he’s also started wars within the military itself. Under his leadership, the US military has ousted female and Black officers, blocked promotions for Black service members, reassigned the first woman to lead the Naval Academy, and targeted transgender service members and just about anyone who doesn’t fit his narrow definition of what constitutes a proper “warrior.”

“Black service members and Black veterans understand that we are either not welcome or we will exist within a permanent hierarchy in which white men are at the top,” says Kyle Bibby, a former Marine infantry captain and co-founder of the non-profit Black Veterans Project. “Particularly straight white men.”

On a special episode of More To The Story for this year’s Veterans Day, host Al Letson talks with Bibby about what life is really like for Black troops in the US military, how Hegseth has widened racial inequities under his leadership, and whether the armed services can ever become a true meritocracy.

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