US Secretary of Defence James Mattis arrives for a working dinner of NATO members at the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, Belgium on Jul. 11, 2018. (Photo credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock)
Several former Pentagon chiefs called out President Donald Trump on Thursday for his ousting of the Joint Chiefs chairman and several other top military officials, according to a report.
Lloyd Austin, Jim Mattis, Chuck Hagel, Leon Panetta and William Perry, whose tenures as Defense secretaries spanned from 1994 to 2025, wrote in a letter to Congress they were "deeply alarmed" by Trump's actions, according to The Washington Post. The letter comes less than a week after Trump fired C.Q. Brown as chair of the Joint Chiefs.
"We are deeply alarmed by President Trump’s recent dismissals of several senior U.S. military leaders. We write to urge the U.S. Congress to hold Mr. Trump to account for these reckless actions and to exercise fully its Constitutional oversight responsibilities," the ex-officials said.
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The letter said Trump provided no explanation even though he had nominated the officers for previous positions and the Senate approved them. The officers provided "exemplary operational and combat experience," the officials said. Trump's actions, they said, "make clear that none of this was about warfighting."
"Mr. Trump’s dismissals raise troubling questions about the administration’s desire to politicize the military and to remove legal constraints on the President’s power. We, like many Americans -- including many troops -- are therefore left to conclude that these leaders are being fired for purely partisan reasons," the letter said.
They called on Congressional lawmakers in both chambers to hold immediate hearings to evaluate the national security implications of the dismissals, and said the House and Senate should demand the administration justify each firing and explain why the move violated Congress’ legislative intent that the chair of the Joint Chiefs serve a four-year term.
In the meantime, they said, senators should refuse to confirm new Pentagon appointments — including that of retired Lt. General Dan Caine as the next chair of the Joint Chiefs.
"President Trump’s actions undermine our all-volunteer force and weaken our national security. Talented Americans may be far less likely to choose a life of military service if they believe they will be held to a political standard. Those currently serving may grow cautious of speaking truth to power or they could erode good order and discipline by taking political actions in uniform. And the public’s traditionally high trust in the armed forces could begin to wither," the letter said.