Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that the Pentagon is slashing the military’s senior ranks by 20%, casting the reductions as part of a broader effort to remake the military’s leadership and purge what he called the remnants of a “woke” culture.
“The number crunchers say we fired 10% of the generals and admirals across the force, and that number sounds about right,” Hegseth said in a speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. He said the Pentagon had also reduced the number of general officer positions by another 10%.
“So, yes, 20% reduction across the board,” he said. “Now the media calls that a purge. I call it accountability and long overdue, and frankly, the bare minimum.”
Hegseth’s previous personnel moves have disproportionately affected women and minorities, fueling criticism from lawmakers and former military officials who say he is politicizing the officer corps. This year he reportedly struck nine officers from a Navy promotions list, including all three women and two Black men on the list. His broader removals have included some of the military’s most senior female and Black officers.
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Hegseth’s combative “State of the Force” address devoted relatively little attention to the Iran war even as the seven-month conflict has strained the Pentagon’s budget, munitions stockpiles and military readiness. The war has cost the Pentagon at least $43.6 billion through early September, according to U.S. Central Command, and it has remained deeply unpopular.
Hegseth instead blamed negative perceptions of the military and the war on the press, accusing journalists of undermining U.S. troops with their coverage.
“Too many of them hate the president more than they love the country,” Hegseth said. “It’s treason, actually.”
Hegsethordered cuts to the military’s senior ranks in May 2025, including a 20% reduction in active duty four-star positions and National Guard general officers and a 10% reduction in general and flag officer positions across the force.
Hegseth made clear Wednesday that he sees the reductions as more than streamlining and tied them directly to his campaign to change the Pentagon’s culture and the people leading it.
“Those generals who did not, who clung to the woke department or seemed to think civilian control of the military is simply a suggestion — well, they no longer work here,” Hegseth said. “You can’t change a culture with the same people who enabled it. Personnel is policy at every single level.”
There were 851 active-duty generals and admirals as of July, which is just below the federal cap of 857.
Hegseth has argued that reducing the number of generals and admirals removes unnecessary layers of command and gives lower-ranking commanders greater authority.
Hegseth also outlined a new process for choosing future generals. Every colonel seeking promotion to general will have to undergo what Hegseth called a “performance-based joint warfighter evaluation” designed to test an officer’s ability to solve complex military problems.
“The best move on; the worst do not,” he said, contrasting it with earlier assessments he said were designed to create “politically correct quotas for race and gender.”
Later in the speech, Hegseth offered a harder-edged description of his vision for the force, using a slur for transgender people and declaring, “Diversity is not our strength. Unity is our strength.”
“No fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals,” he said. “Just warriors, just tough, ready, committed troops.”
The cuts apply to one- through four-star general officer positions, rather than the officers holding them, according to internal plans reported by Fox News. Some jobs will reportedly disappear entirely, while others will be downgraded so colonels or Navy captains can fill them.
The Pentagon has not publicly released a full list of the positions being eliminated or downgraded, nor did it immediately respond to requests for comment.
The cuts came as Hegseth announced six broader initiatives that he said would reshape the military. They include a new four-star Autonomous Warfare Command intended to ramp up the military’s use of drones and robotic systems, and “Fortress America” — a plan to make military bases less dependent on civilian power grids and foreign supply chains.
Hegseth also proposed building a new military base in the U.S. capable of hosting 15,000 to 25,000 troops; expanding military officer training programs at certain universities and creating a new Office of Religious Affairs that would report directly to the defense secretary.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) criticized the cuts Wednesday, saying he fears they could further reduce opportunities for women and minorities in the military’s senior ranks and allow political loyalty to influence who stays.
“He is hollowing out our military,” Blumenthal said. “If you’re a woman or minority, there’s really no future for you here.”
Blumenthal acknowledged there could be a case for reducing the number of senior officers but said, “There’s no evidence that he’s conducted any kind of systematic or intelligent or strategic oversight, either in the number or the specific individuals.”
Blumenthal said Democrats will seek to push back on that in the annual defense policy bill.
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