Sep 30, 6:01 AM
Hegseth’s latest trimming exercise reaches the top of the US military
A 20 percent cut in general and admiral posts is being sold as streamlining, while Congress is left to ask whether it has been consulted or merely informed after the fact.
The Pentagon is again reaching for the scalpels and the stars. Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, is set to cut the number of positions reserved for generals and admirals by 20 percent, a change that will run through the Army, Navy and Air Force and be announced at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia during his “State of the Force” address.
According to a Pentagon official cited by Al Jazeera, the plan will be unveiled on Wednesday before junior officers and enlisted personnel. The Associated Press, also citing Pentagon officials, reported that Hegseth will direct the services to double the 10 percent reduction he ordered last year among roughly 800 flag and general officer positions. The target is a total reduction of 20 percent, to be completed by January 1, 2027.
Other reports suggest the sweep may be broader than the neat language of “streamlining” implies. Fox News said the cuts could include any one-star general or above, or officers of equivalent Navy rank. The Washington Post reported that the move could affect the careers of hundreds of current and rising military leaders after scores of firings and denied promotions.
That concern is not abstract. Since taking office in January 2025, Donald Trump or Hegseth have fired or pushed into retirement more than two dozen military leaders, including the Army’s top uniformed officer, General Randy George, in April. The administration also removed the only two women serving as four-star officers, along with several other senior female officers. Other departures have come through retirements and resignations, among them Army secretary Dan Driscoll, who resigned this month after repeated clashes with Hegseth.
Hegseth has been selling the purge as an efficiency drive. When he first announced the effort to trim the highest levels of the military ranks, he said the aim was to remove redundant force structure and optimise and streamline leadership. In a memo released in May 2025, he added that he wanted to free the military from unnecessary bureaucratic layers. Last year he also declared an end to “woke” culture and introduced new directives for troops, including gender-neutral or male-level standards for physical fitness.
Senator Jack Reed, the Rhode Island Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was unimpressed. In a statement, he said eliminating senior leadership positions must be done in consultation with Congress and warned that the planned cuts should alarm every American. He said Congress had been clear that Hegseth must consult the body and explain his reasoning for senior officer removals and promotion holds, adding that satisfactory answers have not been received.
There is also a legal constraint, which in Washington tends to matter only after the announcement. The number of general officer positions is set by law, but posts can be left unfilled if the administration does not submit nominees to Congress. So the arithmetic may be simple enough. The politics, as usual, are not: a leaner command structure for some, a thinner layer of accountability for others.
Written by Christiane Hofreiter christiane.hofreiter@alpineweekly.com
