Pentagon Pete Accused of Axing General Over a ‘Grudge’
The self-styled “secretary of war” has been accused of continuing his prejudiced firing rampage.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been accused of trying to reshape the Army because of his own thin-skinned grievances about his service as a junior officer.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine appeared on CBS News’s Face the Nation on Sunday morning to discuss the unceremonious ousting of decorated Army Gen. Christopher Donahue, which he said “caught us all by surprise.”
Kaine accused the self-styled “secretary of war” of letting his own personal ambitions influence his staffing choices—a trend that has stretched throughout his tenure in the second Trump administration.
“Are you pushing out the truth tellers to surround yourself by yes-men? And in particular, it looks like the secretary is coming down hardest… on the Army," Kaine, 68, told host Margaret Brennan. “He served in the Army; he felt like he wasn’t treated well by the Army; that’s a grudge he’s carried that he’s described publicly.”
Senator Tim Kaine questioned whether the defense secretary was acting on a “grudge” in his ousting of a celebrated senior Army officer.
Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
“And so, when you see Army officers forced out, you’ve got to wonder, is this a personal thing, or is it really what’s best for the nation?” he added.
Reached for comment, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told the Daily Beast in a statement: “General officers and flag officers serve at the pleasure of the President and the Secretary of War. They always have and always will.”
Donahue, 56, served as the head of U.S. Army Europe and Africa for only 18 months before submitting his retirement papers, according to The Washington Post.
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The former Delta Force commander, who was the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan in 2021, had clashed with Hegseth before choosing to step down, CBS News reported.
The celebrated special forces veteran had once been tipped to lead the whole U.S. Army, but ended up on Hegseth’s hit list.
George Calin/via REUTERS
The U.S. Army thanked Donahue for his leadership in a statement and said that he would “relinquish command” on July 2. It added that he would be replaced as head of U.S. Army Europe and Africa by his deputy commander, Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie.
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe spokesperson Col. Martin O’Donnell also said that Donahue will hand over acting control of NATO’s Allied Land Command, a three-star position, to its deputy commander, British Army Lt. Gen. Jez Bennett, according to CBS News.
“We are working on the defense bill right now. We have voted it out of the Senate Armed Services Committee,” Kaine said about Hegseth’s firing habit. “There is nothing in the bill, at this point, that could address the situation, but when we bring it up on the floor, I think by then, we’ll have some of our questions answered, and if we need to go [further] to put some guardrails in place, you’ll probably find bipartisan support to do that.”
Hegseth, 46, has made sweeping staffing changes to the U.S. military during his short stint as defense secretary, which many have criticized as politically motivated.
Hegseth has been scrutinized for his wanton firings throughout his tenure as Trump's defense secretary.
Win McNamee/Win McNamee/Getty Images
The senior officials whom Hegseth has axed include Navy Secretary John Phelan, Gen. Randy George, Gen. David Hodne, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, plus a dozen other ranking officers.
The former Fox & Friends Weekend host has also come under fire for blocking the promotions of around two dozen senior Black and female officers.
Hegseth’s decision to oust Donahue has angered those on both sides of the political spectrum, with GOP Sen. Thom Tillis saying the Cabinet official made an “unforced error” by pushing him out.
“This is not reinvigorating the warrior ethos. This is not a leader prioritizing merit. It’s sophomoric. It’s unserious. And it’s bringing great harm to our Department of Defense,” the North Carolina senator, 65, said in a post on X on Thursday. “Our military deserves steady, serious civilian leadership. Right now, it’s getting the opposite.”
The GOP senator called out Hegseth for "purging people he perceives as insufficiently loyal."
Sen. Thom Tillis/X
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