(Update) The Ax Is About To Fall

Breaking Defense, Feb 2, 2025. WASHINGTON — “Going sideways” is how Fox News host and National Guard veteran Pete Hegseth, announced last night as President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense, recently dubbed the state of the Pentagon.

The pick of Hegseth, who lacks extensive experience in the defense or foreign policy sector, caught many off guard, prompting a slew of questions about how he might approach the job overseeing the military and its over $800 billion budget.

While a host of questions remain, Hegseth recently filmed an episode of the Shawn Ryan Show that dropped just five days ago. There, while promoting his new book, “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” he offered a peek at possible priorities in the Pentagon’s top civilian post.

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Here are five key takeaways, in the prospective Pentagon chief’s own words.

Firing Top Generals Over ‘Woke Shit’

One of Hegseth’s chief bones of contention, spread throughout the interview and seemingly the focus of his book, revolves around military “woke shit” like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. One solution? A firing spree that starts with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, who still has three years remaining in his term.

“First of all, you got to fire the chairman [of the] Joint Chiefs, and…obviously you’re going to bring in a new Secretary of Defense. But, any general that was involved – general, admiral, whatever –… in any of the DEI woke shit has got to go,” he said. “Either you’re in for warfighting, and that’s it, that’s the only litmus test we care about.”

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“You gotta get rid of DEI and CRT [critical race theory] out of military academies,” Hegseth added. “You’re not training young officers to be baptized in this type of thinking.”

Notably, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that the Trump administration is considering creating a board that would fire a number of three- and four-star general officers viewed as too invested in DEI issues, while both Politico and the Washington Post have raised the possibility that Brown would be removed from his position as America’s top uniformed officer.

UPDATE, 2-23, 2025. Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The Trump administration on Friday purged the top military brass, firing Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force James Slife.

These moves come as the Pentagon braces for the dismissal of up to 76,000 civilians and an 8% reduction in the Department of Defense budget.

President Donald Trump first announced the firing of Brown in a widely expected move and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the departure and the other two firings. Hegseth had been critical of Brown and Franchetti, questioning their promotions.

Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social.

"I want to thank General Charles 'CQ' Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family," Trump wrote about Brown.

Brown, 63, was in the top job for 16 months. He represented the Air Force from 2020 to 2023.

Trump said he is nominating Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine to be the next chairman, which requires U.S. Senate approval. Caine retired in 2024 as a three-star general.

"General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a 'warfighter' with significant interagency and special operations experience," he wrote.

"Despite being highly qualified and respected to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the previous administration, General Caine was passed over for promotion by Sleepy Joe Biden," Trump added. "But not anymore! Alongside Secretary Pete Hegseth, General Caine and our military will restore peace through strength, put America First, and rebuild our military."

Hegseth said "Caine embodies the warfighter ethos and is exactly the leader we need to meet the moment. I look forward to working with him."

His predecessor "has served with distinction in a career spanning four decades of honorable service. I have come to know him as a thoughtful adviser and salute him for his distinguished service to our country."

But in his book, The War on Warriors, said Brown, who is Black, built his generalship dutifully pursuing the radical positions of left-wing politicians, who in turn rewarded him with promotions."

Hergseth said Franchetti and James Slife. "have had distinguished careers. We thank them for their service and dedication to our country."

But Hegseth in his book criticized the admiral for lack of combat experience, yet became the first woman to lead the Navy in 2023 and led two carrier strike groups.

"If naval operations suffers, at least we can hold our heads high," he wrote. "Because at least we have another first! The first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- hooray. For social justice ideologues, PR matters more than reality," he wrote.

Trump also said he had directed Hegseth "to solicit nominations for five additional high-level positions, which will be announced soon."

In January, the administration removed former Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan within hours of Trump taking office.

Joint Chiefs of Staff members advise the president, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council on military matters.

The Department of Defense said it anticipates ultimately firing 5% to 8% -- or 47,000 to 76,000 people -- of the military's approximately 950,000 civilian employees. About 5,400 probationary workers who don't have "mission-critical" roles are expected to be terminated next week.

"As the Secretary made clear, it is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission-critical," Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Darin Selnick said in a statement. "Taxpayers deserve to have us take a thorough look at our workforce top-to-bottom to see where we can eliminate redundancies."

Hegseth had asked his top aides to decide to cut the budget 8% over each of the next five years.