In yet another big move by the Trump Administration and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, thousands of staffers are being fired across the government, with Trump taking a chainsaw to the Pentagon’s bastions of wokeness as Elon Musk clears out the much-detested US AID, firing nearly 1600 staffers.
The spate of firings in the Pentagon, particularly at the top, has swept across the branches. President Trump not only fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown, but also has fired the U.S. Navy’s top officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, highlighted by the woke Biden military as the first woman to head a military branch, and he is firing the Air Force vice chief of staff, Gen. Jim Slife. Further, he is firing judge advocates general of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
The moves makes sense for President Trump, who campaigned on firing “woke” generals from the United States military and holding those responsible who caused the disastrous 2021 US retreat from Afghanistan. However, it has been derided by the woke press, with Reuters referring to his firing of woke generals as “unprecedented.”
Trump, firing General Brown and announcing it on Truth Social, said, “I want to thank General Charles “CQ” Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.”
Praising his replacement, Trump said, “Today, I am honored to announce that I am nominating Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Caine is an accomplished pilot, national security expert, successful entrepreneur, and a “warfighter” with significant interagency and special operations experience. During my first term, Razin was instrumental in the complete annihilation of the ISIS caliphate. It was done in record setting time, a matter of weeks. Many so-called military “geniuses” said it would take years to defeat ISIS. General Caine, on the other hand, said it could be done quickly, and he delivered.”
He added, “Despite being highly qualified and respected to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the previous administration, General Caine was passed over for promotion by Sleepy Joe Biden. But not anymore! Alongside Secretary Pete Hegseth, General Caine and our military will restore peace through strength, put America First, and rebuild our military. Finally, I have also directed Secretary Hegseth to solicit nominations for five additional high level positions, which will be announced soon. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Hegseth, in his 2024 book, noted that General Brown’s race (he is an African-American) might have been responsible for his promotion, saying, as Fox News Digital reported, “Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt – which on its face seems unfair to CQ. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really much matter.” So, his firing was widely seen as an anti-DEI move.
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It’s not just the Pentagon that has seen cuts. The Trump Administration, in an anti-waste move that appears to have been spearheaded by DOGE, also announced that it is eliminating nearly 1600 positions at USAID and is putting the remainder of the employees on administration leave.
Such is what the Associated Press reported, quoting a notice that read, “As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally.”
Watch a USAID employee comment on how staffers tried hiding incriminating info from Musk below: