Defense Secretary Pete Hegses on Sunday defended the chairman of the co-director, President Trump, the country's chief executive, insisting that he “is not the right person at this time.”
President Trump removed the chairman of General Charles Q. Brown Jr. on Friday and appointed a retired three-star general to replace him. Heggs followed the announcement by removing the chief of naval operations and the Pentagon's top military lawyer.
On “Fox News Sunday,” Hegses said, “This is not unprecedented,” and the president from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama fired or fired an officer. He added. The co-headed chairman has never been fired, but when he had a two-year term in the position, the George W. Bush administration refused to renew General Peter Pace's term in 2007, and Congress was entitled to the Congress. I quoted the opposite.
“This reflects the president wants the right people around him to implement the national security approach we want to take,” Hegses said.
But Sen. Jack Reid of Rhode Island, a top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said the series of shootings was “completely unfair.”
Reed said on ABC News' “this week” that the administration wanted the Defense Department to be seen by the president. “They want them to do what they say, regardless of the law,” he added.
The dismissal of the lawyer was surprising, prompting talented leaders to question whether they should stay in the military.
“If you're trying to break the law, the first thing you do is get rid of your lawyer,” Reed said.
Hegseth declined to criticise, saying that traditionally senior military lawyers were chosen from each other. However, he said he wanted “fresh blood” and would open his positions to a wider pool of candidates and find the best military lawyer to lead each armed service.
“In the end, we want a non-existent lawyer to give constitutional advice and not try to become an obstacle,” Heggs said.
Hegses was also pressed for the administration's plan for the war in Ukraine and Trump's criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymie Zelensky.
He praised Trump for leading the Kremlin to peace talks and defended bilateral negotiations between Russia and the United States. Democrats, Europeans and Ukrainians have criticised these talks for excluding Ukraine.
“Standing here, he said, 'You're good, you're bad, you're a dictator, you're not a dictator, you invaded, you didn't.” “It's not productive.”
In his interview, Reid, a top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said Trump was essentially “subordinating to the Russians.”
“This is not a politician or a diplomat,” Reid said. “This is someone who admires Putin, someone who doesn't believe in the struggles of the Ukrainians and is committed to resideing in a dictator.”
