On February 21, Donald Trump announced that he relieved Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. from his role as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Minutes later, Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth announced the termination of five more senior military officers.
Joining Brown Jr. in sudden unemployment are the Navy’s top officer (Adm. Lisa Franchetti), the Air Force’s second-highest officer (Gen. James Slife), and the judge advocates general of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Over 5,000 more military terminations are expected next week, a move those fired might have tried to prevent.
The culling of top military leadership came on the same day the Pentagon announced it will fire 5,400 civilian employees next week… followed by a hiring freeze.
Military.com
Judge advocates general (JAG) officers oversee the military justice system, interpreting and determining lawful and constitutional orders.
As former Navy member and congressional candidate Jerrad Christian points out, “replacing career JAG officers with loyalists is essential to Trump’s overall goal of a military dedicated not to the Constitution, but to him alone.”
To put it bluntly, our adversaries are popping champagne right now. There is no better outcome for them than the promotion of Trump loyalists over the best and brightest. They know that this move makes our military weaker. The real concern is what comes next. Trump has made his intentions clear. He has openly signaled his intent to ignore the Constitution, he has attacked democratic processes and elections for the better part of a decade, and the actions he and Elon Musk have taken over the last four weeks openly defy longstanding Constitutional order.
Jerrad Christian
Brown will be replaced by the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Christopher Grady, as interim chairman, until the Senate confirms Donald Trump’s pick, Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, to be the next chairman.
Brown was only sixteen months into his four-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, having been the Air Force chief of staff, as well as a seasoned pilot and military commander. His confirmation to becoming chairman was politically uncontroversial, receiving 83-11 votes in the Senate.
The decision to have Caine succeed Brown is unconventional. The chairmanship is typically given to four-star officers, while Caine is only a three-star officer. He has not commanded large groups of soldiers unlike other past chairmen.
It is likely that these dismissals amount to political purges. Slife upset Trump’s allies when he denounced institutional racism in the face of George Floyd’s murder. In justifying the removal of Brown from his position, Trump’s advisors have referenced a video featuring the general reflecting on his experience as an African-American Air Force pilot. This video was recorded in the aftermath of Floyd’s killing.
This would not be the first time that the murder of Floyd created a political rift between Trump and top military officials. After accompanying Trump in his infamous walk across Lafayette Square, in which peaceful George Floyd protesters were violently cleared, General Mark Milley voiced his regret for having appeared to be a political tool for Trump. Milley’s relationship with Trump deteriorated after.
Hegseth has questioned if Brown was elevated because of his race. He has similarly claimed that Franchetti was promoted because of her gender. Hegseth has repeatedly criticized diversity efforts in the military under Brown, prioritizing such complaints over other military concerns, such as readiness and lethality.
