Five former defense secretaries have called on Congress to hold an immediate hearing on the “reckless” firing of senior military leaders, including the chairman of President Trump's co-director.
In a letter sent Thursday, the group condemns Trump's move, saying they are trying to politicize historically non-political US troops, urging lawmakers to stop confirming those who have rejected confirmation of successors.
“Mr. Trump's firing raises troubling questions about the administration's desire to politicize the military and remove legal constraints on the power of the president,” writes William Perry, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis and Lloyd Austin. “We are going to conclude that, like many Americans, including many military forces, these leaders are fired for purely partisan reasons.”
Perry, Panetta, Hagel and Austin have served under the Democratic administration for the past 30 years, while retired Marine Commander Mattis was Trump's first Secretary of Defense from 2017 to 2019.
In one dive, Trump fired co-head of Air Force Secretary CQ Brown Jr. last week, with Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti, Deputy Air Prime Minister, Prime Minister James Sliff, and a judge backing Army, Navy and Air Force generals.
The president has legal authority to eliminate senior military officials, but they usually give reasons for fire where Trump has not yet been fired on a massive basis. The co-chief chairs also usually work through the administration. Brown was not in the middle of his four-year term at the time of his firing.
The former Pentagon chief says the action “harms the strength of all our volunteers and weakens national security.”
“The president, despite having appointed these officers to his previous position, did not justify his actions despite the Senate's approval,” the letter said. “The exemplary operational and combat experience of these officers, as well as the coming dismissal of judges in favor of Army, Navy and Air Force generals, makes clear that this is not about combat.”
The termination could also prevent Americans from choosing to join the military if they believe Americans will be bound by political standards, the man wrote. And those currently serving may be wary of “speaking the truth to power.”
The Trump administration has built a key point to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from the federal government, expelling civil servants they view as potential obstacles to its agenda.
Brown, alone, the second black man to chair the co-chief, recorded a video that reflected his experience as an Air Force pilot following the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, causing civil unrest in multiple American cities.
And Francetti was the first woman to serve as the chief of the co-director.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegses, who had suggested that Brown had taken the job because he was black before the nomination, told Fox News on Sunday that the four-star general was “not the right person at this point.”
Hegseth also says he fired Jags.
Such reasoning warns a former defense secretary who called for an “immediate hearing to be held to assess the national security impact of the firing.
“The House and Senate need to demand that the administration justify each dismissal and fully explain why the chairman of Congress violated Congress's legislative intention to complete a four-year term,” they write. “In the meantime, the senators should refuse to confirm the appointment of a new Department of Defense,” he retired Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Kane, including Trump's election to the next co-chief chairman.
“We are not asking members of Congress to give us a favor. We ask them to do our job,” the five men concluded.
