Trump's military firings leave some Democrats reeling
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Gen. Charles Brown Jr. listens to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth answer reporters' questions before a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Pentagon during an honor cordon on Feb. 5 in Arlington, Virginia. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President Trump's firings of Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown, Jr. and other top military leaders sends a "dangerous message" to service members about how the administration regards political loyalty, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Sunday.
Why it matters: The controversial dismissals, which also hit Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife, come as the U.S. stares down instability abroad and amid tensions with some international allies.
- Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had in the past questioned whether Brown — a four-star fighter pilot who served as the first Black chief of staff of the Air Force and the second Black general to serve as chairman — was named to the post because of his race.
- Hegseth said in a Sunday interview with "Fox News Sunday" that while he has "a lot of respect" for Brown, he's "not the right man for the moment."
- Franchetti, whom CNN reports Hegseth once described as a "DEI hire," was the first woman to serve as the chief of naval operations.
Driving the news: Democrats and some former military officials decried Trump's move to boot respected leaders, characterizing the decision as a signal from the administration that partisan loyalties outweighed expertise and experience.
- The Joint Chiefs chair "should be independent of politics," Booker said on NBC's "Meet the Press Sunday," noting Brown was "supported overwhelmingly" on both sides of the political aisle.
- But Trump, Booker said, "has thrown that out the window and is sending a dangerous message to the military: 'It's not about your independent expertise. It's not about your years of service. It's about your personal political loyalty to me.'"
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on ABC's "This Week" that the firings were "completely unjustified" and mark "the beginning of a very, very serious degradation of the military and politicization of the military."
- Reed highlighted Hegseth's decision to fire the top Army, Navy and Air Force lawyers — judge advocates general, commonly known as JAGs — saying, "If you're going to break the law, the first thing you do is you get rid of the lawyers."
The other side: Hegseth slammed Reed's criticism as "a total mischaracterization."
- He continued, "This is a reflection of the president wanting the right people around him to execute the national security approach we want to take."
Zoom in: Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told ABC's Martha Raddatz in a Sunday interview that he doesn't know whether the firings were "about DEI," contending, "bottom line here to me is the Department of Defense needed a complete overhaul."
- Trump has for years railed against "woke" generals and "wokeness" he says weakened the military, such as through diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
- Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) denied Rep. James Clyburn's (D-S.C.) contention that Trump may have fired Brown because he is Black, arguing to NBC's Kristen Welker Sunday that Clyburn "constantly pulls the race card out."
- "This had zero, absolutely zero to do with race," Mullin said.
Go deeper: Trump orders purge of military academy visitor boards
