"Not the right man" Hegseth defends dismissals in the military and Pentagon
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth defends his dismissals in the military and in his department. "The president deserves to pick his key national security advisory team."
23.02.2025, 19:35
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- New U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has made some layoffs in the military and in his department.
- According to Hegseth, layoffs on Friday affected six three- and four-star generals.
- "The president deserves to pick his key national security advisory team," Hegseth said.
The new US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has defended himself against accusations that a number of dismissals in the military and in his department were politically motivated. Commenting on the dismissal of the previous Chief of Staff, CQ Brown Jr, the highest-ranking military officer in the US, by President Donald Trump, Hegseth told "Fox News Sunday": "None of this is unprecedented. The president deserves to pick his key national security advisory team."
Brown was only the second black man to hold the post of U.S. chief of staff. He was fired after 16 months. Hegseth described the ex-chief of staff as "honorable". But he was "not the right man for the moment". According to Hegseth, six three- and four-star generals were affected by Friday's dismissals.
Retired General George Casey, who commanded troops in Iraq under Republican former President George W. Bush from 2004 to 2007, called the dismissals "extremely destabilizing" on ABC's "This Week" program. Democrat Jack Reed from the US Senate Armed Services Committee described the dismissals to ABC as "completely unjustified".