Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has carried out an unprecedented wave of firings at the Pentagon, removing 24 generals and senior commanders without providing performance-related reasons. Insiders describe Hegseth as increasingly isolated within the sprawling defence department, surrounded by a small coterie of close friends and relatives.
Among those ousted were General CQ Brown, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead the US Navy. Roughly 60 per cent of those fired have been Black or female, a pattern critics attribute to the administration's campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
General Randy George, the army chief of staff, was reportedly dismissed after refusing to obey Hegseth's instruction to remove four officers – two Black men and two women – from a promotions list. Hegseth denied before a Senate committee that President Trump had directed him to target Black and female officers, but added that previous leadership had focused on 'race and gender in ways that we think were unhealthy.'
Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has been accompanied to official meetings by his wife Jennifer, a former Fox producer, and has appointed his brother Phil as a senior adviser. Much of the department's day-to-day operations are overseen by deputy defence secretary Steve Feinberg, while Hegseth focuses on personal issues such as overhauling chaplain services.
Military analysts note that the purge aligns with the right-wing Project 2025 blueprint, which called for removing 'woke' officers to create ideologically pure armed forces. Retired Major General Paul Eaton warned that the administration wants a military 'pliant to the president and his secretary.'
