After D. Trump’s victory on November 5 election layoff planning is at an early stage and could change as the Trump administration takes shape, sources familiar with the president-elect’s transition policy said.
One of the sources expressed doubt about the possibility of mass layoffs at the Pentagon. It is also unclear whether Trump himself would support the plan, although he has previously spoken out widely against defense chiefs who have criticized him.
D. Trump during the election campaign also talked about firing generals and those responsible for the problematic 2021. the completed withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
Trump’s team did not immediately respond to the agency’s request for comment.
A second source noted that the incoming administration is likely to focus on U.S. military officials seen as connected to Trump’s former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley.
Bob Woodward’s book War, published last month, featured a quote from the general calling Trump a “fascist to the core,” and Trump’s allies targeted him for alleged disloyalty to the former president.
“Every person nominated and appointed by Ms. Milley is going to disappear,” the second interviewer emphasized. – There is a very detailed list of everyone who was associated with Ms. Milley. They will all be removed.”
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is made up of the highest-ranking officers of the U.S. military and includes the commanders of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, National Guard, and Space Force.
The plans to fire senior US military commanders came a day after Trump tapped Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator and veteran who has signaled a desire to “clean up” the Pentagon, as his defense secretary.
“The next president of the United States must fundamentally reorganize the Pentagon’s senior leadership so that we are ready to defend our nation and defeat our enemies.” A lot of people need to be fired,” he taught in his book “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free”.
AFP/”Scanpix” nuotr./Pete’as Hegsethas
Who will lose his job first?
Mr. Hegseth also took aim at Mr. Milley’s successor, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, asking whether he would have gotten the job if he hadn’t been black.
“Was it because of the color of his skin? Or because of his skills? We’ll never know, but we always doubt it – which seems unfair to CQ on the surface. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really matter,” he wrote.
The first source familiar with the transition planning said CQBrown would be one of a number of officials to leave.
“The heads of the Joint Chiefs Committee and all deputy chiefs will be fired immediately,” the source said, noting earlier that this was only early planning.
Some current and former US officials have played down the possibility of such a major shake-up, saying it would be an unnecessary and disruptive move at a time of global turmoil, with wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Source: www.15min.lt
