Hegseth is Removing Military’s Senior Leaders Faster Than Any Defense Secretary in Recent History

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has either fired myriad senior officers, or blocked the promotions of more than 80 generals and admirals during his tenure, reimagining the Pentagon at a rapid pace.

This turnover is not a single event but three overlapping ones. Hegseth is cutting the number of senior positions by policy, removing sitting commanders, and personally intervening in the promotion lists that determine who will lead the military years from now.

This week, after Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s resignation, criticism began coming from within his own party.

Measured against the first 19 months of the Biden administration and of President Donald Trump’s first term, no recent defense secretary has reshaped the top ranks at this pace.

Counting the Departures

A statistic that has drawn the most attention—more than 80 generals and admirals—is not simply a count of officers who have left.

It combines those who were fired or pushed into early retirement with those selected for promotion by military boards and then removed before advancing.

According to Pentagon data highlighted in a Congressional Research Service framework, there were 838 active-duty generals and admirals.

The Defense Department’s sweeping restructuring policy mandates are cutting roughly one in 10 positions from the military’s senior officer corps, according to calculations evaluated by the New York Times.

The number of high-ranking officials who have physically departed is smaller than the overall disruption. A CBS News investigative account identified at least 20 uniformed and civilian defense leaders who have been fired or forced out during Hegseth’s tenure.

However, when blending these public ousters with behind-the-scenes blocked promotions, reporting shows that over 80 general and flag officer careers have been actively altered or sidelined.

Pentagon Calls Hegseth’s Moves Part of ‘Statutory Authority’

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told Military.com that Hegseth’s decisions are part of a “worn out and manufactured” narrative perpetuated by the media, saying that the press should “move on.”

“Promotion recommendations sent to the Secretary of War have always been recommendations—never mandates,” Parnell said. “It is widely understood across the building—including by the very reporter writing this story—that the secretary has the final statutory authority to review and approve these rosters.

“As we have made clear, all senior military leaders serve at the pleasure of the president and secretary. The idea that these lists cannot be altered is ridiculous; every single secretary has exercised this exact prerogative.”

While Parnell stresses Hegseth’s authority as head of the Pentagon, the list of those who have been fired, pushed out, or pressured to resign and enter early retirement, has exceeded two dozen top ranking officials and civilian leaders. They have included Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. CQ Brown Jr., Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George.

Parnell also called it “a total fabrication” to claim that Hegseth is not focused on modernization, calling him “a transformative leader” within DOD and one who under President Trump “has ushered in a new era of ‘Peace Through Strength.'”

The United States remains heavily involved in the ongoing military operation in the Middle East, specifically against Iran.

“Standards and merit are back, our arsenal is stronger than ever before, and morale and recruitment across every service are at all-time highs,” Parnell said. “Secretary Hegseth has slashed bureaucracy, unleashed innovation, and delivered for our war fighters every step of the way.

“The entire department is unified behind the secretary’s vision and will continue working to put our war fighters and America first.”

A Resignation Caused a Republican Break

One recent departure has proved the most politically consequential.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submitted his resignation to Trump after 18 months in the job. Driscoll himself has been restrained, thanking Hegseth and crediting him with supporting the Army’s work.

But a person familiar with his thinking told CNN that Driscoll had raised concerns about Hegseth “blocking” the Army’s modernization “specifically by firing the generals who were responsible.”

Driscoll’s resignation drew a pointed response from Hegseth’s own party.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who voted to confirm Hegseth and is not seeking reelection, called on Trump to replace him, accusing the secretary of “inept management” and of “creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks.”

Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was “tired of all the churn.”

Democrats had pressed for Hegseth’s removal for months. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Hegseth had “fired and blocked the promotions of dozens of senior officers without explanation.”

Three Overlapping Situations

The first dates to a May 2025 memorandum.

Hegseth ordered reductions of at least 20% in active-duty four-star positions, 20% among National Guard general officers, and an additional 10% across the general and flag officer ranks.

He framed it as overdue streamlining, saying that the military has roughly one general for every 1,400 troops, compared with one for every 6,000 in World War II.

“This is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers,” he said.

Credit: DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza

Second is the removal of sitting leaders, where the comparison with recent administrations becomes clearer.

Using the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a fixed measure of the most senior uniformed leaders, five of the eight members Hegseth’s administration inherited have left their posts, including the aforementioned Brown, Franchetti and George.

Over the comparable stretch of Trump’s first term, none of the seven inherited chiefs were removed. Under Biden, the only change was a single routine retirement.

Not all five were clear firings. One was a retirement and another the subject of conflicting accounts, so the shift is better described than reduced to a percentage. But even counting only the unambiguous cases, Brown, Franchetti and George, three of eight inherited members were removed before finishing their terms.

Trump’s first administration fought bitterly with its civilian Pentagon leadership yet let the uniformed chiefs turn over on schedule. Biden preserved that leadership and expanded it. Hegseth is reaching into the structure that produces it.

Selection, Not Just Attrition

The third level may be the most consequential.

Beyond the officers already removed, the Times identified at least 45 who were selected for promotion by professional military boards in 2026 and then struck from the lists before advancing.

Hegseth told Congress in April that promotion boards were under review and that he expected more officers to be removed, suggesting the interventions are deliberate policy rather than isolated decisions. The effort has been led by retired Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, who heads the Pentagon’s personnel office.

Timing is what makes the difference. Firing a four-star general changes who commands today. Removing a colonel selected for brigadier general can keep that officer from ever becoming a division commander, a service chief, or a combatant commander, years down the line.

Disproportionate Effects

Several independent analyses have found that women and Black officers have been especially disaffected by removals and promotion interventions at disproportionate rates.

The Times reported that more than half of the officers removed from 2026 promotion lists were female or Black, and that women fell to about 4% of high-level nominations this year. This is the lowest share in at least 25 years.

Credit: BES Strategic Communciations – Jonathan Owen

CBS reported there are currently no active-duty four-star women. In one Navy board examined by the Times and confirmed by the Associated Press, all three women and two of four Black men on a one-star list were removed, along with four white males.

Public record does not establish that race or sex determined every decision. Some removals do have separate reported explanations.

Hegseth has denied using identity as a variable, saying his only metric is merit and that he entered office intending to reverse what he viewed as the previous Pentagon’s focus on race and gender.

Case Made for the Overhaul

The senior ranks have grown over decades. Congress has previously ordered reductions in the number of generals and admirals. Trimming the count is not extraordinary in itself.

Civilian control of the military gives a defense secretary broad authority over senior personnel and promotion recommendations. It’s this authority that Democratic and Republican administrations have both exercised.

The legal picture is contested, but not settled. Federal law allows the president, and the defense secretary by delegation, to remove officers from promotion lists.

However, a 2025 amendment requires Congress to be notified within 30 days when it does so for reasons other than misconduct. Reed has argued that some of Hegseth’s interventions exceed that authority.

The Pentagon disputes that reading. No court has ruled.

Questions Being Asked

The turnover is also unfolding during heavy operational demand, including the war with Iran.

George was removed in the spring while U.S. forces were engaged in a major conflict, a step Reuters noted was unusual for a sitting service chief.

That leaves a question civilian control alone does not answer. A defense secretary has every right to choose the military’s senior leaders.

Both sides of the aisle are now asking about strategic foresight, like how much simultaneous turnover an institution responsible for ongoing wars and long-range planning can take before the gains in political control are offset by the experience of walking out the door.