The NAACP, the National Women’s Law Center and dozens of other organizations are challenging War Secretary Pete Hegseth over his personal intervention in military promotions involving Black officers and women. The coalition is demanding that Hegseth submit to congressional oversight of the process.

A total of 33 groups signed a letter sent to Hegseth earlier this month and released to MS NOW on Monday. They pointed to reporting about his interference and a decline in the share of women nominated for promotions to high ranking positions.

According to the letter, the share of women nominated for those promotions is now at its lowest level in more than two decades. The groups also said many qualified Black candidates have had their opportunities blocked.

“We call on you to comply with congressional requests for oversight,” the organizations wrote. “The American public deserves to know whether their Secretary of War is making decisions in compliance with our laws and based on the skills and experiences of our service members or if his decisions are driven by racial and gender stereotypes .”

That call follows demands from congressional Democrats seeking an explanation of Hegseth’s involvement in the promotion process. Hegseth has ignored those demands, according to the source report.

His predecessors largely left the promotion process alone, but Hegseth has personally intervened. He has also spent years deriding “diversity hires” and making disparaging comments about women serving in combat.

Pentagon spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson disputed the coalition’s assertion in a statement to MS NOW. Rather than addressing the groups’ demand for congressional oversight, her response attacked the outlet and rejected the underlying allegation.

“MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility) is now joining other fake news outlets in pushing the hoax that Secretary Hegseth is basing promotion decisions on race and sex,” Wilson said. “This is a lie, and we have said so repeatedly.”

Other organizations that signed the Sept. 16 letter include the ACLU and the National Action Network. The National Action Network is led by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who is an MS NOW contributor.

The groups cited reporting that Hegseth had intervened to block promotions for “at least 40 senior officers — approximately half of whom were women or people of color.” That figure sits at the center of their demand for scrutiny.

The letter examines the reported interventions branch by military branch. The organizations said that breakdown shows what they described as “a grave abuse of power at the expense of women and officers of color.”

The coalition acknowledged that Hegseth has more discretion when appointments involve the military’s highest ranks. Those positions include admirals and generals holding ranks of three and four stars.

Even with that discretion, the organizations accused Hegseth of targeting women and Black leaders at those levels. Their letter identified two officers whose promotions allegedly failed to advance despite exemplary recommendations.

Those officers were Admiral Sara Joyner and Rear Admiral Stephen D. Barnett. The groups said Joyner had actively recruited women to serve, while Barnett had actively recruited people of color.

The letter accused Hegseth of “including failing to advance the promotions of Admiral Sara Joyner and Rear Admiral Stephen D. Barnett, both of whom received exemplary recommendations but who had actively recruited women and people of color, respectively, to serve.”

The organizations are asking for oversight to determine whether Hegseth’s decisions complied with the law and reflected service members’ skills and experience. The Pentagon, meanwhile, has denied that race and sex are guiding his promotion decisions.