Top Republican lawmakers have spoken out against Pete Hegseth’s mass firings at the Pentagon.
Hegseth, 46, announced plans late last month to reduce the number of generals and admirals in the military by a staggering 20 percent. Critics slammed the move, calling it a latest attempt by the defense secretary to purge veteran officials who he says are not loyal enough to the Trump administration.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins and Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Sen. Joni Ernst all told The Hill on Monday that they had only heard about Hegseth’s cuts shortly before they were announced last week.
“I didn’t have a long lead,” Wickers said, adding that he “wouldn’t have made this a priority if I had been asked.” Ernst said that “the problem is that the secretary didn’t come and explain this to us before taking action, much like is the case with a lot of layoffs we’ve seen with military personnel.”
Collins, who previously raised concerns about Hegseth’s firing during Senate hearings, said the cuts are “deeply troubling” and could deprive the military of “talent, dedication and patriotism” among female and minority civil servants.
Hegseth defined his cuts as gender and race neutral. Yet he faced intense backlash after his previous purges were found to have disproportionately affected women and black service members.
The secretary of state has often spoken out against so-called DEI hiring practices since taking office last year, pledging to remove race, gender and ethnicity from promotion decisions while eliminating diversity programs and gender and racial targets in the military.
“Our officer promotion system has always been an example of one of the greatest meritocracies we have,” Collins told The Hill.
“I think we should adhere to a system that has served us well,” she continued. “It may be necessary to reduce the overall number of general officers at the Pentagon, but this approach appears to be ideologically driven. »
Other Republican lawmakers say this isn’t the first time Hegseth has warned them only just before announcing drastic changes at the Pentagon, or given them too little information about his decisions.
“He didn’t respect Congress,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, who will retire next year. “He never really gave us full briefings.”
“We control his purse strings, and he almost treats us like we’re workers in a manufacturing plant that he doesn’t want to spend time with,” the North Carolina Republican added. “It’s a huge problem, and I think he’s the face of it.”
Asked to comment on this story, a Pentagon spokesperson told The Daily Beast: “It is false that Secretary Hegseth bases promotion decisions on race and gender, and we have repeatedly said so. »
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