(Headline USA) President-elect Donald Trump is drafting an executive order that would allow him to fire woke and disloyal military generals en masse, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The order would set up a “warrior board” of retired generals and noncommissioned officers, selected by Trump, who would have the power to review three- and four-star military officers and identify those “lacking in requisite leadership qualities.”
The warrior board’s reviews would focus “on leadership capability, strategic readiness, and commitment to military excellence,” the draft order said.
Trump would then use the board’s recommendations and take quick action and demote or forcibly retire those officers, the Journal said, bypassing the Pentagon’s regular promotion system altogether.
As commander-in-chief, Trump has the discretion to fire any officer.
Throughout his campaign, Trump promised to fire “woke generals” such as former Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, who undermined him during his first administration.
“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver,” a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition team told the Journal.
To that end, Trump announced on Tuesday night that he will nominate Pete Hegseth, an Army veteran and current Fox News host, to serve as his Secretary of Defense.
“I am honored to announce that I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my Cabinet as The Secretary of Defense. Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” Trump said in a statement.
The announcement reportedly rattled Pentagon officials, leading current Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to issue his own statement reminding the military that they must comply with an “orderly” transition.
“The Department will make a calm, orderly, and professional transition to the incoming Trump administration,” Defense SecretaryLloyd Austin said in a memo to the Pentagon this week. “As it always has, the U.S. military will stand ready to carry out the policy choices of its next commander in chief and to obey all lawful orders from its civilian chain of command.”
