Lisa Franchetti

You know, we're seeing a change in the length of tenure, the kind of the more immediate firing of the commandant of the Coast Guard.

We saw the turnover of Admiral Franchetti, who was the chief of naval operations.

And what we haven't seen is a lot of explanation for why it was that these individuals were removed from their posts off cycle from when we might expect to see that change.

And then there's also certainly been a lot of reporting over the last few months about the number of individuals who are being removed from consideration for promotion by the Secretary of Defense, which is statutorily something that he has the ability to do.

They are fabulous.

Uh, from CQ Brown, uh, to, to, uh, Chris Donahue, you know, Randy George, Jim Slife, uh, Lisa Franchetti, uh, Linda Fagan.

I mean, the list goes on and on and on.

And, and I said, look, it is absolutely, uh, the right, uh, of the secretary of defense and the president to remove officers that they think don't meet the standard.

Whether we like the commander-in-chief or not is immaterial.

We're gonna do the best we can because we raised our hand and we swore an oath to the Constitution.

So, um, just because it was, you know, somebody was promoted under Biden or was a friend of General Mark Milley or, uh, pick a reason, those are not good reasons to fire an officer of Chris Donahue or Randy George or Lisa Franchetti.

I mean, these are remarkable.

Brown had been confirmed as the nation's highest-ranking military officer and the principal military advisor to the president in an 83-11 Senate vote just a year and a half before.

Hegseth then announced he would dismiss Admiral Lisa Franchetti, chief of U.S. naval operations, and General James Slife, the Air Force's vice chief of staff, as well as the judge advocate's general, the military's top lawyers for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

In March, shortly before four U.S. soldiers went missing on a training mission, all four were later found dead, the signal controversy broke.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz had accidentally added the Atlantic's editor-in-chief to a signal chat where top military officials, including Hegseth, were discussing forthcoming strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

National Counterterrorism Center Director, Joe Kent.

Chief of Naval Operations, Lisa Franchetti.

Army Chief of Staff, Randy George.

Air Force Chief of Staff, David Alvin.

Hegseth may have individual reasons for the departures of so many senior leaders across the services.

He has also forced out the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Lisa Franchetti, and Secretary of the Navy, John Felan, Phelan, among many others.

And he has sapped morale by denying the investments of younger officers who have been selected for promotion to one-star admiral or general, and we know this is because they were Black or women or Hispanic, and that was one of the main reasons why Hegseth did not promote them.

This damage to a major department in the middle of combat operations is stunning.

Back in February of 2025, we saw General Brown, who was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, get pushed out of his role.

Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the chief of naval operations, and General James Slythe, the Air Force vice chief, all fired in the same time period.

April in 2026, we had Navy Secretary John Felham forced out, Army Chief of Staff General Randy George, General David Hond, and Major General Green removed from their roles.

Earlier this year, this past July, General Christopher Donahue, one of the most decorated soldiers from the global war on terror, left his job early as the four star in charge of U.S. military forces in Europe.

If you want to look at all the people resigned or gone over the past year, well, the Pentagon has had a wave of resignations.

You have Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Army Chief of Staff General Randy George, General Christopher Donahue, Vice Chief General James Mingus, Navy Secretary John Phelan, And let's not forget the 2015 purge, 2025 purge that removed Joint Chiefs Chairman C.Q. Brown Jr., Admiral Lisa Franchetti, and General James Slife all in one fell swoop.

And it comes as we are waiting to hear more about Mitch McConnell.

80 days out of public view, I have gone to his office multiple times, finding it guarded by unmasked SUVs and Capitol Police with curtains drawn.