From WaPo: Trump Dismissed Chairman of Joint Chiefs, Navy CNO, Four Others
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth meets with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Christopher W. Grady, and other Joint Staff senior leaders at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., Jan. 31, 2025. (DoD Photo by Benjamin Applebaum)
Trump posted on his Truth social media, and SecDef Hegseth followed up, concerning the dismissal of six of the most senior officers of the United States military.
From Washington Post:
In a post on social media, President Donald Trump said he would replace Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and would take the unusual step of tapping a little-known, retired three-star officer, Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, as the next chairman.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a statement distributed shortly after Trump’s post, said he would dismiss five other senior officers, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve as chief of naval operations, and Gen. James Slife, a top Air Force officer.
“Under President Trump, we are putting in place new leadership that will focus our military on its core mission of deterring, fighting and winning wars,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth informed Brown, who was in Texas on Friday for a visit to the southwest border, that he was being removed before Trump’s announcement, said a U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the leadership shake-up. The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Christopher Grady, is expected to serve as interim chairman until Caine can be confirmed.
Brown, a veteran pilot and battlefield commander whom Trump nominated during his first term in office to become the Air Force’s first African American chief of staff, was roughly 16 months into what was expected to be a four-year term. He was elevated to the military’s top position by President Joe Biden in 2023, making him the second Black man to hold the chairman’s job. Gen. Colin Powell was the first.
The dismissals comes as Trump’s campaign to whittle down the federal workforce triggers court challenges and chaos for government workers, and his shifts on foreign policy, including an embrace of Russia’s narrative about the war in Ukraine, stoke confusion and anxiety among U.S. allies.
The firings appear to represent the most significant move yet in the administration’s emerging campaign to purge the Pentagon of what Hegseth has decried as “woke” policies and personnel and, despite the military’s role as a nonpartisan institution spanning administrations of both parties, to reshape its highest ranks.
In the weeks after he arrived at the Pentagon following a controversial confirmation process, Hegseth has moved quickly to dismantle diversity initiatives, which he has called “racist” and “illegal.”
At a Pentagon town hall this month, Hegseth said diversity initiatives have “served a purpose of dividing the force as opposed to uniting” the military. “The single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength,’” he said.
Before being tapped by Trump, Hegseth attacked senior officers by name, including Brown, whom he said was overly focused on diversity issues. He also criticized Franchetti, suggesting she was selected for the leadership post because of her gender.
The administration had previously fired another uniformed leader, Adm. Coast Guard Linda Fagan, for alleged leadership failures. The Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump called Brown “a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader.”
“I wish a great future for him and his family,” the president said.
