Trump Fires Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff & Senior Military Leaders, Sparking Concerns Over Politicization Of The Pentagon

President Donald Trump dismissed several high-ranking military officials, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Jim Slife. This marks the first time two members of the Joint Chiefs have been removed simultaneously.

To replace Brown, Trump is expected to nominate retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised Caine as a leader who “embodies the warfighter ethos” and is “exactly the leader we need to meet the moment.”

Franchetti, the first woman to serve as a service chief, is now the second female military leader Trump has dismissed, following the removal of Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan. According to Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island), the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Armed Services, Trump’s firing of such leaders is “completely unjustified…And, apparently, what Trump and Hegseth are trying to do is to politicize the Department of Defense, and it’s not surprising that they put Kash Patel as the FBI director, who is a partisan, who has no, I think, respect for the traditions of neutrality of the FBI.”

Former U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Gen. George Casey Jr., also expressed concern, calling the move “extremely destabilizing at a time that there’s a lot going on domestically and a lot going on abroad. When you remove so many senior leaders, especially without justifying and giving due cause, it causes huge uncertainty in the ranks, and it just isn’t a good thing for the military at a very difficult time.”

Speculation has grown that Brown, the second black chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the first black service chief, was fired due to his support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which Trump and Hegseth have vowed to eliminate. Hegseth previously referred to Franchetti as a “DEI hire,” further fueling concerns that these firings are part of a broader effort to reshape military leadership politically.

The shake-up in military leadership comes as the administration also moves to cut thousands of jobs in the federal workforce, a move that disproportionately impacts veterans. Veterans make up 28% of the federal workforce, compared to just 5% in the private sector, and many rely on government jobs for stability after their service. The Pentagon recently announced plans to cut over 5,000 positions, leaving many veteran employees uncertain about their future. These job cuts, combined with the firings of top military officials, have raised concerns about the potential impact on the Department of Defense’s stability.