Trump administration pushed back against Mike Esper's plan to make Pentagon more diverse: report

At least 11 white men have been promoted to senior positions at the Pentagon in the past three months

Published September 15, 2020 1:25PM (EDT)

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and U.S. President Donald Trump (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and U.S. President Donald Trump (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

This article originally appeared on Raw Story

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Defense Secretary Mark Esper has promised to make the White House a more diverse place, but according to a new report from POLITICO, the Trump administration has moved or promoted at least 11 white men to senior positions at the Pentagon in the past three months.

"The Pentagon declined multiple requests to provide a breakdown of its senior civilian ranks by race, but publicly available data reveals a department run overwhelmingly by white men," POLITICO's Lara Seligman and Sarah Cammarata report. "Esper and his deputy, David Norquist, are white. Six out of seven members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are white men; new Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown is only the second Black man ever to serve on the Joint Chiefs."

Only the lower ranks of DoD leadership are slightly more diverse. "Out of six undersecretaries of defense, all are white and five are male. Out of 60 presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed positions, all but three are men."

Read the full report over at POLITICO.


By Sky Palma

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Diversity Donald Trump Mike Esper Pentagon Politics Raw Story Republicans