Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth lashed out at the media when they questioned his firing of the joint chiefs of staff's chairman and hiring of a less qualified replacement.
Four-star Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown, Jr. was nominated by President Donald Trump in 2020 to serve as the chief of staff of the United States Air Force in 2020. He took over General Mark Milley's post as the joint chiefs chair in September 2023.
Trump fired Brown on Friday night along with other top military, in what one expert called a "Friday Night Massacre."
Trump then announced that retired Air Force Lieutenant General Dan "Razin" Caine would take over the post. The law mandates specific criteria for the joint chiefs' post. Caine doesn't have those prerequisites and Trump must file a waiver for Caine to take the post.
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The appointment raised questions about whether Caine is qualified for the post.
Caine is a three-star general and hasn't served as a combatant commander or service chief. A Pentagon photo-op Monday turned combative as Hegseth welcomed Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman.
Reuters national security reporter Idrees Ali asked why Hegseth picked an "underqualified retired lieutenant general to be the next chairman of the joint chiefs of staff."
Hegseth lashed out at the question, saying, "I'm going to choose to reject your unqualified question."
"He did not let me complete my question to point out that the nominee, Dan Caine, did not meet the legal requirement to be chairman and would need a waiver," wrote Ali on X.
