DOGE will attempt to “find the redundancies and identify the last vestiges of Biden priorities” such as DEI initiatives. These are “not core to our mission, and we’re going to get rid of it all,” Hegseth said. Trump has appointed Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and the world’s richest person, to run DOGE. Musk’s efforts to achieve savings have so far resulted in the dismissal of tens of thousands of federal employees, sparking legal challenges. The Pentagon is already preparing for large layoffs of civilian employees as part of a drastic budget revamp outlined by Hegseth earlier this week. Trump did not explain his decision to replace Brown but thanked him for “over 40 years of service to our country, including his time as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Trump did not explain his choice to replace Brown, but congratulated him for “over 40 years of service to our country, including his tenure as 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,” the president wrote. Brown’s public support for Black Lives Matter following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 made him a target in the administration’s assault on “wokeism” in the military. Hegseth was suspicious of Brown before taking over the Pentagon, questioning in a book published last year if Brown would have received the position if he hadn’t been black. Representative Adam Smith (Democrat-Washington) criticized Trump’s Friday night massacre” unleashed even more chaos at the Pentagon. He defended Brown as intelligent, accomplished, and a true patriot

Representative Adam Smith (Democrat-Washington) claimed Trump’s “Friday night massacre” caused even more confusion at the Pentagon. He defended Brown as an intellectual, successful, and devoted patriot. “That wasn’t good enough for the president, who has chosen — yet again –fealty over proven ability to do the job and loyalty to the Constitution,” said Smith, the House Armed Services Committee’s ranking member, in a statement. “All of this continues to play into the hands of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and others working to exploit the weakness Trump continues to broadcast and undermine the military, our government, our national security interests, and democracy worldwide,” according to Smith.

The cuts to the Pentagon’s civilian personnel will begin next week. Darin Selnick, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, stated in a statement that at least 5% of the workforce would be eliminated. The layoffs will target recently hired staff in a workforce of approximately 900,000. “We anticipate reducing the department’s civilian workforce by 5-8 percent to produce efficiencies and refocus the department on the president’s priorities and restoring readiness in the force,” according to Selnick. The termination of around 5,400 probationary employees would be followed by a hiring freeze “while we conduct a further analysis of our personnel needs,” Selnick stated. A day before to the announcement, Hegseth said in a video message that “it is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission critical.”