Former U.S. Defense Secretaries Warn Against Trump’s Politicization of the Military
Five ex-Pentagon chiefs urge Congress to intervene after Trump’s dismissal of key military leaders, raising concerns over civilian control of the armed forces.
Watan-Five former U.S. Secretaries of Defense have expressed concern over President Donald Trump’s “politicization” of the military following the dismissal of several military leaders, urging Congress to intervene in an open letter published on Thursday.
Last week, Trump announced that he would replace Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown as part of a broad reshuffling of the leadership of the U.S. armed forces.
Following this, his Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, expressed his intention to replace several senior military officials.
The former secretaries—William Perry, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, and Lloyd Austin—who served under Democratic administrations, stated in their letter to Congress: “We are deeply concerned about President Trump’s recent dismissal of several key military leaders.”
They added, “We are writing to urge the United States Congress to hold Trump accountable for his reckless actions,” calling on lawmakers to hold hearings to obtain explanations from the Trump administration.
The five former secretaries pointed out that these dismissals “raise troubling questions about the administration’s desire to politicize the armed forces and remove legal constraints on the president’s authority.”
They emphasized that “the United States cannot allow the armed forces to be tainted by partisan politics or diverted from their primary mission of defending the nation.”
The Trump administration asserts that the selection of top military officials is a presidential prerogative, widely exercised by previous Republican presidents. However, critics of the move, including the five former secretaries, argue that it was not accompanied by any justification related to the affected officers’ skills or conduct.
