Hegseth Announces 20% Cut to Military Leadership Roles

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday directed the active-duty military to shed 20% of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration moves forward with deep cuts. Hegseth also told the National Guard to eliminate 20% of its top positions and directed the military to cut an additional 10% of its general and flag officers, which could include any one-star or above or officer of equivalent Navy rank, the AP reports. "This is not a slash and burn exercise," he said in a video announcing the cuts. "More generals and admirals does not lead to more success."

In a memo Monday, Hegseth said the Pentagon would remove "redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership." He said the aim was to free the military from "unnecessary bureaucratic layers." There are about 800 general officers in the military, but only 44 of those are four-star general or flag officers. The Army has the largest number of general officers, with 219, including eight four-star generals. The number of general officer positions in the military is set by law. Members of Congress were not provided with the advance notification they normally would receive on the cuts but were given a "very brief alert" this afternoon, according to a congressional staffer who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Politico reports that the cuts may involve consolidating the Northern and Southern commands, as well as the Europe and Africa commands. The cuts are on top of more than a half-dozen top general officers that President Trump or Hegseth have fired since January, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr. They also have fired the only two women serving as four-star officers, as well as a disproportionate number of other senior female officers. Last week, Hegseth ordered a sweeping transformation of the Army to "build a leaner, more lethal force," including merging or closing headquarters, dumping outdated vehicles and aircraft, slashing as many as 1,000 headquarters staff in the Pentagon and shifting personnel to units in the field.

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