Republican Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, a retired US Air Force brigadier general and member of the House Armed Services Committee, declared on CNN Sunday that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has “undermined” the US military, becoming the most prominent Republican voice yet to publicly break with the Pentagon chief over a purge that has seen roughly 20 generals and admirals fired without explanation.
From blocking Black and female officers’ promotions to firing decorated generals mid-war, Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon purge is now drawing fire from inside the Republican caucus itself. Credit: X
A Republican congressman and retired US Air Force brigadier general who sits on the House Armed Services Committee declared Sunday that the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has “undermined” the United States military, breaking sharply with his own party over a Pentagon purge that has now seen roughly 20 generals and admirals fired without explanation, dozens of Black and female officers blocked from promotion, and two of the Army’s most celebrated commanders forced out in the middle of an active war.
Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, delivered a blunt verdict on Hegseth’s record: “Well, it’s wrong to be abrupt or to the point.” Bacon, who has disagreed with Hegseth on a series of personnel moves, said the pattern of firings without explanation was corroding the institution from within, and that Congress was no longer willing to stay quiet about it.
The interview landed like a grenade in a Republican Party that has, for months, struggled to publicly confront a defense secretary whose decisions have alarmed career military professionals, alarmed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and now, with the Iran war ongoing, alarmed the nation’s allies.
Twenty Generals Fired. No Explanation. ‘That Is Concerning.’
The numbers alone tell a story. Bacon told reporters this week: “We have probably about 20 generals and admirals who have been fired for no reason. That is concerning. It’s not decent when you fire people with no explanation.”
The latest dismissal to shock Capitol Hill was that of General Christopher Donahue, the top US Army commander in Europe, forced out by Hegseth this week. Representative Rich McCormick of Georgia, also a member of the Armed Services Committee, said of Donahue: “Unfortunate. I have mad respect for that guy. He’s earned that, great leader.” Representative Keith Self of Texas, a former Army Ranger, was even more pointed, describing Donahue as “one of the studs of the United States Army” and a Delta Force commander of rare distinction.
Donahue’s ouster follows that of General Randy George, the Army chief of staff, fired earlier this year despite having been credited with pulling the Army out of a major recruiting crisis and pioneering new drone-based warfare technologies, skills that proved immediately relevant when Iranian drones began devastating US assets at the start of the war. House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers of Alabama, a Republican, said George “made great progress on increasing recruitment, improving efficiency, and modernising the Army.”
Blocking Black and Female Officers: A Pattern the Pentagon Calls ‘Fake News’
Beyond the high-profile firings, it is Hegseth’s intervention in the military’s traditionally apolitical promotion process that has most alarmed senior lawmakers and military professionals. According to nine US officials familiar with the process, Hegseth has taken steps to block or delay promotions for more than a dozen Black and female senior officers across all four branches of the military, with some officials saying there are concerns in both the military and the White House that Hegseth is blocking qualified officers because of their race or gender as he targets diversity initiatives at the Pentagon.
Hegseth fired Joint Chiefs Chairman General CQ Brown, the second African American to hold the job, and Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to hold the Navy’s top uniformed position, in both cases offering no public explanation for the removals.
Representative Austin Scott, a Georgia Republican, made his frustration plain: “I believe that our system has led to the greatest military the world has seen, and so I’m disappointed that one individual has taken it upon themselves to look through a list of people, who are in the top 2% of their category and were selected by their peers to push forward to become general officers, and remove them.”
The Pentagon’s response to the mounting criticism has been consistent — and dismissive. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called the reporting “fake news,” saying: “Under Secretary Hegseth, military promotions are given to those who have earned them. Meritocracy, which reigns in this Department, is apolitical and unbiased.”
Congress Moves to Rein Hegseth In, But Faces Limits
Faced with a Pentagon chief who has repeatedly bypassed normal channels, the House Armed Services Committee has begun legislating guardrails. The committee adopted a provision in the annual National Defence Authorisation Act that would require the Pentagon to inform Congress in writing, within five days, of the reasons behind the firing or dismissal of any senior military officer.
Representative Marilyn Strickland of Washington introduced an amendment that would make the president the only official authorised to overturn a military promotion board recommendation, stripping Hegseth of the authority he has been exercising unilaterally, and would mandate congressional notification within five days whenever that authority is used.
On the question of Confederate base names, Bacon has gone even further, crossing the aisle to vote with Democrats to undo Hegseth’s decision to restore the original names of nine military installations. “We did it right,” Bacon told reporters. “And then what happened was the secretary comes in and puts his thumb in our eye and just has total disregard for Congress. It bothers me. I think it should bother all of us.”
‘A Fox News Pundit in the Secretary’s Office’
Outside Congress, the assessments from independent military analysts have been even harsher. Justin Logan, director of defence and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, described Hegseth as “a Fox News pundit in the Secretary’s office,” adding that “the firing spree has mostly destroyed without creating.”
Barry Posen, a professor of political science at MIT and former director of its Security Studies program, said Hegseth “appears to have a preference for people who look like him.”
The ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Representative Adam Smith of Washington, put it in the starkest institutional terms: “Since taking charge of the Department of Defence, we have seen Secretary Hegseth oust numerous decorated, knowledgeable, and well-respected US military leaders and remove individuals from promotion lists in his ongoing culture war. All of this is creating further chaos and havoc that threatens the stability of our armed forces, does a profound disservice to the men and women who serve our country, and erodes the non-partisan role of the military.”
A Wartime Purge With No Parallel in Modern Memory
The broader context makes Hegseth’s record harder to defend, not easier. The United States is currently engaged in active military operations against Iran, with the Strait of Hormuz still contested and an August deadline for a permanent nuclear agreement approaching. It is precisely the moment when continuity of military leadership, institutional trust, and the retained expertise of senior commanders matter most.
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican, captured the quiet alarm spreading through his caucus: “I think he’s missing the mark on personnel. I don’t quite know what’s going on there.”
For Don Bacon, the retired brigadier general who still speaks the language of the force he once served, there was nothing quiet about it. The military, he said, had been undermined. And he said it on national television, as a Republican, in the middle of a war.
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