Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declined to specify to lawmakers why he demanded the retirement of General Randy George, the now-former Army chief of staff, but indicated ties to the previous administration as a broad reason for much of the turnover he has enforced.
Hegseth, who appeared in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, was asked about George’s dismissal multiple times but declined to provide a detailed answer about what prompted the decision, which was announced in early April.
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“We thank General George for his service, and out of respect to him and other officers, we never talk about the nature of why certain officers are asked to step down, but we all serve at the pleasure of the president,” he said.
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Hegseth went on to say that he is trying to change the department’s culture and it requires removing the senior military officers who were a part of the previous ethos that he disputes.
“Ultimately, my view in coming into this department, as I stated in my confirmation hearing, was to change the culture of the department,” he said. “And it’s ultimately challenging to change the department, the culture of a department with the same people who are a part of or in that department.”
The Army chief of staff position is typically a four-year term, and George was nominated by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2023, meaning he would have been in the role until 2027. He previously served as the senior military assistant to then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin from 2021 to 2022 during the Biden administration.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) lamented George’s dismissal, as well as that of former Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus, whom Hegseth previously pushed out: “I was disappointed to see that their retirements were hastened over what I believed had been set out by you and the administration.”
“He had 38 years of honorable service,” Ernst said. “He achieved the greatest Army recruitment and modernization effort in a generation. So I want to thank him for his service.”
She did not ask Hegseth a question regarding their removals but highlighted George’s extensive military record.
Hegseth’s ouster of George was a surprise to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s office, a U.S. official previously told the Washington Examiner. Hegseth and Driscoll’s relationship has been a source of intrigue in Washington, D.C., as Driscoll is a close friend of Vice President JD Vance and was viewed as a possible replacement should the president decide to move on from Hegseth as defense secretary.
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Hegseth also noted that more dismissals should be expected.
“So I have made many changes with general officers,” the secretary said. “We will continue to make changes as necessary with general officers, and they will be in keeping with the trajectory of where we would like to take the department.”
