02/22/2025

Nothing new here – see the following:

Obama’s Military Coup Purges 197 Officers In Five Years | Investor’s Business Daily

Meet the new Trump administration staffers who will shape key US policies starting in 2025©Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

• President-elect Donald Trump is announcing his picks for key positions in his administration.
• They include Scott Bessent to lead the Treasury and Howard Lutnick for Commerce Secretary.
• Here’s a running list of those Trump has tapped for his next four years in the White House.

President-elect Donald Trump has been staffing his next administration since winning another four years in the White House.

The former and future president refused to talk in detail about potential appointees during the campaign, leaving plenty of room for speculation about his eventual choices.

His picks include Scott Bessent to lead the Treasury, Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary, and Kevin Hassett to lead the National Economic Council.

He also announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would run a new department, called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE Here’s a running list of Trump’s staff picks, who will determine everything from his daily schedule to the ins and outs of finance, defense, and education.

President Trump fired General Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Friday night. ALLISON BAILEY/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images© ALLISON BAILEY/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

• President Trump fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Friday night.
• His public removal coincided with the defense secretary’s firing of five other top officers.
• Several lawmakers, including military veterans, expressed alarm.
• The White House ousted the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., which was followed by a string of firings in the Pentagon’s most senior ranks that alarmed lawmakers.

In a press release posted Friday night, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also removed the chief of naval operations and the Air Force vice chief of staff, Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Gen. James Slife, respectively, as well as the top military lawyers for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

The removals of confirmed leaders deepen the turmoil at the Pentagon, which faces deep cuts to its civilian workforce and budget shifts that Trump officials say are to align with the new administration’s priorities. Nearly 5,400 probationary employees within the DoD may face job termination next week, part of a larger slew of cuts that could total around 55,000 civilian military employees.

Friday night firings

In his Truth Social announcement, President Donald Trump did not provide a reason for the removal of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who serves as the president’s top military advisor, nor did he explain the move to replace Brown with a retired general.

Brown is a fighter pilot, and only the second African American to hold the chairman position. After the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, Brown spoke out publicly about his personal experiences facing racial discrimination as an airman. Before his most recent role, Brown was Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, making him the first African-American service chief.

Trump said that he would nominate retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine to take on the role of chairman of the joint chiefs. This is a position that would need to be confirmed by the GOP-led Senate.

Brown wasn’t the only trailblazing military officer among the leaders terminated Friday. Franchetti was the first woman to lead the Navy and the first-ever female military leader to be part of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Prior to his confirmation, Hegseth had called for the removal of both Brown and Franchetti.

She is the most recent female leader to be sacked as the new administration shakes up the government. Shortly after taking office, Trump officials relieved Coast Guard leader Adm. Linda F. Fagan, the first woman to lead a branch of the US armed forces.

Lawmakers sound the alarm

Hegseth’s press release on the DoD leadership changes also asked for nominations for the Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy and Air Force, positions responsible for advising military commanders on whether orders are lawful.

These moves alarmed some lawmakers like Colorado Democrat Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger, who noted their crucial role in applying the law to orders.

“Under President Trump, we are putting in place new leadership that will focus our military on its core mission of deterring, fighting and winning wars,” the press release read.

Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island said in a statement Friday night that the dismissals appear to be “part of a broader, premeditated campaign” by Trump and Hegseth to “purge talented officers for politically charged reasons, which would undermine the professionalism of our military.”

Other veterans in Congress criticized the unprecedented mass firings of top military officers.

“What Trump and Hegseth are doing is un-American, unpatriotic,” wrote Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts and a former Marine officer. “It’s [the] definition of politicizing our military, and we should expect to see loyalty oaths (not to the Constitution) and worse coming soon.”

“In case anyone is wondering … this isn’t normal,” Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a former Army National Guard soldier, said. “No, this is the work of a wanna-be dictator. By firing our top military leaders and installing his own personal yes-men, Trump is making America less safe.”

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Well/well, Duckworth must have forgotten the 197 conservative military that Obama fired? Then, the lefties tried to convince us that President Trump was taking away our Democracy and now he is trying to be a dictator when all the while during eight years of Obama and four of Biden dictatorship and no Constitution – they were putting us in debt by stealing/hiding to the tune of at least three trillions of dollars with no remorse. She has her nerve!

In the next election, people need to wise up as to the fact that not one Democrat should be elected after their 12 years of thievery to give the Republicans a chance to put the country’s bank account in the winning column. How dare they steal our money and then complain about five military being fired. They should all be in jail for thievery.

kommonsentsjane