US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is reducing its senior military leadership by 20 percent through dismissals and cuts to authorized positions, CBS News reported.
Speaking at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Hegseth said about 10 percent of generals and admirals had been fired during the second Trump administration.
He said he had also directed a further 10 percent reduction in senior officer positions.
“Now the media calls that a purge. I call it accountability, and long overdue,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth said fewer command posts would mean less bureaucracy. He defended firing officers he accused of backing “woke” policies or defying civilian authority.
Changes to Military Leadership
The cuts extend Hegseth’s reshaping of the Pentagon’s senior ranks, which Democratic Senator Mark Kelly criticized as removing commanders with decades of experience.
Pentagon figures cited by CBS News counted 851 active-duty generals and admirals in July, compared with 848 a year earlier.
That tally followed Hegseth’s May 2025 order to cut at least 10 percent of general and flag officers across the military and 20 percent of National Guard general officers, arguing that fewer senior positions would reduce unnecessary administrative layers.
Since Hegseth became defense secretary in January last year, at least 20 senior officers and civilian defense officials have been fired or resigned, according to CBS News.
Departures include the joint chiefs chairman and the top uniformed officers of the army, navy, and air force.
The civilian secretaries of the army and navy have also been replaced.
