Retired Army Maj. Gen. Randy Manner tore into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, calling him "incompetent" and accusing him of "playing Russian roulette with the security of the United States." Appearing on CNN's The Lead, Manner said of Hegseth's latest purge of senior military leaders: "This is just unbelievable." "This is extremely dangerous."
Hegseth addressed troops at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Wednesday, defending his latest round of cuts. Fox News reported Tuesday that he plans to eliminate 20 percent of positions reserved for generals and admirals across the Army, Navy, and Air Force — double the 10 percent reduction he had previously ordered. "Those who clung to the 'woke department'... no longer work here," Hegseth said. "The media calls that a purge. I call it accountability and long overdue. And frankly, the bare minimum." "The ideological clowns are out. The patriotic cowboys are in," he added.
Manner's criticism is about how the cuts are being made. "Think about this — if it were a business with a $1.5 trillion budget and over a million and a half people in it, any corporation would have to be very thoughtful" to restructure without losing capability, he said. "A 'thoughtful' restructuring would be wise, but he is not doing that." Instead, Manner charged, "He, literally, is purging people who don't agree with him."
CNN host Jake Tapper noted that some of those fired "in the name of accountability" are "some of the most decorated and respected officers we've had in the modern era," including former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and former U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander Gen. Christopher Donahue. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called the cuts "reckless" on CNN.
Tapper pressed Manner directly: with the U.S. engaged in an active war with Iran and 19 American service members dead, is now the right time to cut senior military positions? The implication hung over the exchange: gambling with the command structure during wartime puts national security at stake. Trump told reporters the same day from the Oval Office that he was at a decision point on Iran: "We blow them up or make a deal." The New York Times reported that Republican doubts about Hegseth's leadership are also growing.
Hegseth's rhetoric suggests more is coming — "Diversity is not our strength. Unity is our strength," and the Pentagon is "no longer the woke department or the weak department." Manner's warning reframes the debate: the question isn't whether the military's senior ranks need reform, but whether the way it's being done is hollowing out America's command capability. With a war underway, that question will only get sharper.