Without question, during this, his second and last term, President Trump has a much more loyal core of Cabinet members. No doubt the president spent the four years he was out of office huddling with advisers, considering a range of potential Cabinet candidates, weeding out the deep state posers in the process. The really good news is that those who Trump selected make up his inner circle are turning out to be all-stars: Not DEI hires and transgender lunatics who steal luggage from airports.
One of them, of course, is Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who proved again this week that the president was 100 percent right to choose him. No doubt you’ve heard the phrase, “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians” (no, we don’t think that’s politically incorrect). Well, in a memo released Monday, Hegseth announced plans to reduce the number of four-star generals in the U.S. military, aiming to boost efficiency and eliminate bureaucratic bloat. He also pledged to cut 20 percent of the top leadership within the National Guard, calling many of the positions “redundant.”
The Daily Caller:
Hegseth directed the Department of Defense to reduce its active component four-star military officers and general officers in the National Guard by at least 20% each, with a minimum 10% reduction of general and flag officers, according to the memo. The move is intended to improve efficiency and officer quality by removing “unnecessary bureaucratic layers that hinder their growth and effectiveness.”
“Through these measures, we will uphold our position as the most lethal fighting force in the world, achieving peace through strength and ensuring greater efficiency, innovation, and preparedness for any challenge that lies ahead,” Hegseth wrote in the memo.
In their place, Hegseth vowed to increase the number of rank-and-file members as the U.S. military beefs up in the face of rising global threats (yes, China, we see you). The SECDEF took to social media to explain it all:
“This is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers,” Hegseth said on X. “This has been a deliberative process, working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions in the general and flag officer ranks,” he said in the video. And last week, he ordered the Army to slim down, but also while putting more combat-capable boots on the ground:
Hegseth last week ordered a sweeping transformation to the Army to “build a leaner, more lethal force,” including merging or closing headquarters, dumping outdated vehicles and aircraft, slashing as many as 1,000 headquarters staff in the Pentagon and shifting personnel to units in the field.
It’s clear that Hegseth has hit the ground running and with these kinds of cuts to the military-industrial complex, it’s understandable why the deep state is gunning for him. But Trump chose him for a reason because the president knew he could take flak over the target and return unscathed to carry out the MAGA mission.