{"id":31110,"date":"2023-12-21T17:40:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T17:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/12\/21\/just-one-promotion-remains-blocked-due-to-officers-views-on-diversity\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:03:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:03:55","slug":"just-one-promotion-remains-blocked-due-to-officers-views-on-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2023\/12\/21\/just-one-promotion-remains-blocked-due-to-officers-views-on-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Just one promotion remains blocked due to officer\u2019s views on diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Senate confirmed large batches of Defense Department nominees this month, ending a 10-month blockade on military promotions for hundreds of officers \u2014 except one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the Senate gaveled out for their holiday recess Wednesday, the promotion of Air Force Col. Benjamin Jonsson remained on hold. Even after the months-long blockade on military promotions was lifted this month by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who was protesting military abortion access policies, another senator stepped in to block Jonsson\u2019s promotion to brigadier general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is stonewalling the promotion because of his concerns about Jonsson\u2019s stances on the military\u2019s diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Schmitt\u2019s office did not elaborate on his reason for the hold, other than to describe DEI programs as divisive and to note that Schmitt was a proponent of ending them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSenator Schmitt has long been an advocate for eradicating these DEI programs, and hopes to resolve these issues to ensure that these divisive DEI programs don\u2019t continue to drive a wedge between military members and deepen the already existing recruiting crisis,\u201d Will O\u2019Grady, Schmitt\u2019s press secretary, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because Jonsson\u2019s nomination wasn\u2019t approved before the Senate recessed for the year, the White House will have to resubmit his nomination for promotion to the Senate in 2024, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/crsreports.congress.gov\/product\/pdf\/R\/R46664\/2#:~:text=The%20Senate%20returns%20all%20nominations,or%20for%20a%20new%20candidate\" target=\"_blank\">Senate rules described by the Congressional Research Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jonsson faced public criticism after submitting a commentary for Air Force Times in 2020 titled, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/opinion\/commentary\/2020\/07\/01\/dear-white-colonel-we-must-address-our-blind-spots-around-race\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cDear white colonel \u2026 we must address our blind spots around race.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force colonel wrote the opinion piece just days after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In it, he urged other white colonels to acknowledge racial disparities in the Air Force, and he relayed specific instances in which white colonels were unwilling to discuss problems of racism, discrimination and inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2020\/07\/01\/dear-white-colonel-we-must-address-our-blind-spots-around-race\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Goldfein-Wright-racial-town-hall-2.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Dear white colonel \u2026 we must address our blind spots around race<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">&quot;We can break these invisible barriers, if we choose to engage and stop excusing ourselves.&quot;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jonsson ended the piece by encouraging white colonels to read the book, \u201cWhite Fragility: Why It\u2019s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism,\u201d a New York Times bestseller recommended by various news publications and universities to readers who wanted to educate themselves about racism amid the fallout from Floyd\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs white colonels, you and I are the biggest barriers to change if we do not personally address racial injustice in our Air Force,\u201d Jonsson wrote. \u201cDefensiveness is a predictable response by white people to any discussion of racial injustice. White colonels are no exception. We are largely blind to institutional racism, and we take offense to any suggestion that our system advantaged us at the expense of others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/defense\/commentary\/air-force-colonel-line-promotion-preaches-dei-agenda-endorses-crt-book\" target=\"_blank\">Heritage Foundation wrote sharp criticism of Jonsson<\/a> after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/Releases\/Release\/Article\/3279885\/general-officer-announcements\/\" target=\"_blank\">Defense Department announced his promotion<\/a> to brigadier general earlier this year. The conservative think tank took issue with Jonsson\u2019s commentary in Air Force Times and argued he had espoused \u201cwoke\u201d views, referring to what the group sees as radically progressive DEI policies. Those policies don\u2019t fall in line with traditional American values, the Heritage Foundation wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The think tank also blasted Jonsson for recommending the book \u201cWhite Fragility,\u201d which they claimed endorsed so-called critical race theory, which centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation\u2019s institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCol. Jonsson exhibited a toxic embrace of DEI policies that have no place in the U.S. military,\u201d wrote William Thibeau, who works for the conservative think tank Claremont Institute, in the Heritage Foundation\u2019s post. \u201cHis public characterization of \u2018white colonels\u2019\u2019 blindness is inherently divisive and sends shockwaves through his command.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jonsson was the vice wing commander for the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar when he penned the commentary for Air Force Times. In 2022, he assumed the role of vice superintendent of the Air Force Academy before moving this summer to Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, a spokesperson with the Air Force Academy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to his military biography, Jonsson flew some of the initial C-17A combat missions of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was later accepted into the Olmsted Scholar Program, which awards scholarships to junior officers to pursue overseas graduate-level education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jonsson was not the only officer to be blocked by Schmitt, meanwhile, due to concerns over DEI policies, but he is currently the last officer to have his promotion stalled. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2023\/12\/06\/23-top-military-leaders-still-in-limbo-after-nominations-blockade-ends\/\" target=\"_blank\">Schmitt originally placed a hold on six officers<\/a> but lifted the blockade on five of them. The Senate cleared those five confirmations late last week. And on Tuesday, the chamber <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2023\/12\/20\/senate-oks-11-four-star-nominees-ending-ongoing-nomination-fight\/\" target=\"_blank\">confirmed 11 senior military nominees who had been stalled for months<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Opposition to the Pentagon\u2019s DEI efforts has spiked among select conservative lawmakers since 2020, when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/senate-bill\/1605\/text\" target=\"_blank\">Congress first expanded such programs<\/a> and mandated the Defense Department\u2019s hiring of a chief diversity officer, said Liz Yates, a researcher with the advocacy group Human Rights First.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2023\/10\/06\/congress-considers-very-severe-rollback-of-militarys-dei-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\">Attempts by some lawmakers to dismantle the military\u2019s DEI programs<\/a> reached a flash point earlier this year, as the House and Senate struggled to come to terms on the national defense policy bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Congress approved a version of the bill earlier this month that capped the base pay of DEI staff at the Pentagon and instituted a hiring freeze on DEI positions until the Government Accountability Office completes an investigation of the military\u2019s DEI programs. However, more severe proposals by GOP members were omitted from the final text, including one measure to eliminate the position of chief diversity officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With all but Jonsson\u2019s confirmation approved, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., lauded the advancements Wednesday as a \u201cvery good outcome\u201d and urged senators not to \u201chold military families hostage\u201d for political agendas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI hope this never happens again. Let the experience of the past 10 months be a warning: No senator should use our military officers and their families as political pawns to push a political agenda,\u201d Schumer said on the Senate floor prior to breaking for holiday recess. \u201cThis was a long and painful ordeal for our Armed Forces. Let\u2019s make sure this never happens again, no matter how strongly any of the 100 senators feel about any one issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>This story was produced in partnership with <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mvj.network\/\"><i>Military Veterans in Journalism<\/i><\/a><i>. Please send tips to <\/i><a href=\"mailto:MVJ-Tips@militarytimes.com\">MVJ-Tips@militarytimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Eric Schmitt is blocking the promotion of Col. Benjamin Jonsson out of concern for his stance on the military\u2019s DEI programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":107968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":38,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[38,11,31,58,9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3379],"class_list":["post-31110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-fedlife","category-home","category-lifestyle","category-federal-oversight"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LLCJTKAHRRH7BILXKTB6DPYHNE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2023\/12\/21\/just-one-promotion-remains-blocked-due-to-officers-views-on-diversity\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Just one promotion remains blocked due to officer\u2019s views on diversity - Federal Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sen. Eric Schmitt is blocking the promotion of Col. Benjamin Jonsson out of concern for his stance on the military\u2019s DEI programs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Just one promotion remains blocked due to officer\u2019s views on diversity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sen. Eric Schmitt is blocking the promotion of Col. 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