demote

US District Judge Richard Leon wrote in a scathing ruling that Hegseth had unconstitutionally retaliated against Kelly in seeking to demote the retired Navy captain.

From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026

Kelly filed a lawsuit in January that accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of violating his First Amendment rights by moving to formally censure him and demote him over the video.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026

According to Fidell, the secretary of defense has the authority to demote only flag officers—that is, generals and admirals.

From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026

Newby also could promote or demote judges on lower courts, deciding who served as their chiefs and held prestigious committee posts.

From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2025

I step forward, realizing Director Van Helsing may have done me a favor when he decided to demote me.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

I think it's really telling that as soon as Ulbrich gets into the role, he demotes Hackett.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2024

Right after the ink on that resignation letter has dried, Deborah demotes Ava to second chair, telling her that Winnie is requiring her to hire the previous host’s head writer.

From Salon ● May 31, 2024

Only Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the Exchequer, might be tempted to quit if Mr. Johnson demotes him in a reshuffle.

From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2022

Facebook said it also demotes content from news publishers that users rate as untrusted in surveys and content posted by pages or accounts that repeatedly violate its rules.

From Reuters ● Sep. 23, 2021

“When an employer demotes an employee out of a desire to prevent the employee from engaging in political activity that the First Amendment protects, the employee is entitled to challenge that unlawful action.”

From Washington Post ● Apr. 26, 2016

The senior pilot assigned the Sunday shift was demoted days earlier to patrol duty, following a workplace complaint.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Whenever there is a reshuffle at the top of government, it is worth keeping an eye and an ear on the dislodged, demoted and rejected former ministers.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

The man who shockingly demoted then-24-year-old goalkeeper Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa in favor of a more experienced player prior to the 2010 World Cup was now relying on upstarts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

Lyon won an appeal against relegation the following month, after initially being demoted to Ligue 2 by French football's financial watchdog.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

Pluto got demoted from planet to dwarf planet, but we’d never treat each other as something lesser.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

The EU said Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison-shopping service in search results and demoting those of competitors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

The European Commission said Google is demoting media publishers' websites and content in search results when they include content from commercial partners, such as sponsored editorial pieces.

From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025

The mayor said she was demoting Crowley for failing to inform her about the dangerous conditions or to activate hundreds of firefighters ahead of the blaze.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025

The Briton was controversially penalised at Sunday's United States Grand Prix, demoting him from third to fourth behind Verstappen, for overtaking off track.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2024

Royal Brougham fired the first and potentially most lethal: Had he made a critical mistake by demoting his sophomores?

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown