A series of Trump administration firings has shaken up the Pentagon status quo, drawing strong reactions from members of Congress.
On Friday, President Donald Trump removed Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, one of the most high-ranking officials in the Pentagon.
Brown had previously been criticized by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who before being confirmed, had called for his removal and accused him of playing the “race card” to advance himself.
The firing comes amid an aggressive push by Trump and Elon Musk to audit the federal government—although it has met some pushback at the Pentagon, where senior officials have told employees not to respond to the Office of Personnel Management’s emails.
“For now, please pause any response to the OPM email titled ‘What did you do last week?'” the Department of Defense wrote in a post on X.
Trump said of Brown, who was appointed by President Biden, “He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.”
Brown was not the only one to lose his job in the Trump administration’s latest shakeup of the federal government, as on Friday, Hegseth also announced the removal of the chief of naval operations and the vice chief of staff of the Air Force.
In a statement to The Daily Signal, Rep. Eli Crane, R-Az., himself a Navy SEAL veteran, applauded the shakeup at the Pentagon.
“President Trump is the commander in chief and has every right to replace his advisers,” said Crane.
“Under the Biden Administration, thousands of patriots were dismissed over heinous vaccine mandates. The mass purging of warriors under Biden’s leadership harmed our readiness, not the dismissal of any generals at the Pentagon.”
Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., likewise praised the Pentagon overhaul, which he views as an anti-bureaucratic efficiency measure.
“I support the Trump administration’s efforts to cut waste, fraud, and abuse. It’s vital that we’re investing in the resources our warfighters need to deter, and if necessary, defeat our adversaries,” said DesJarlais, who added that he thinks many at the Department of Defense are focused on “wasteful DEI programs.”
But the praise from Republicans was not universal.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., an Air Force veteran and a member of the House Committee on Armed Services, told The Daily Signal in an interview that he thinks the administration should work at a slower pace with cuts.
“The president has a constitutional right to do this as the commander in chief in the Constitution,” he said, adding: “But I do think there’s decency and just doing things right—letting people know why you’re firing them. And are you just going to fire them because they were selected by the previous president? That’s not how we do things.”
Bacon also said that he agrees with Trump, Musk, and Hegseth’s push for increased transparency and efficiency in the military, but he cautioned against what he views as reckless restructuring.
“I do think, before you make cuts, that you should have it well-staffed, so you know what the consequences are … . They’re like, ‘Oops, we should not have cut that.’ We shouldn’t have cut the nuclear guys who are working on our nuclear weapons.”
He added, “Let’s be transparent. I embrace the audit. And let’s be a little more careful and have a better discussion or better analysis on what we’re cutting, so that we know what the consequences are.”