Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday directed the active duty military to shed 20% of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration keeps pushing the services to streamline their top leadership positions.
Hegseth also told the National Guard to shed 20% of its top positions.
In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership.”
On top of the cuts to the top-tier four-star generals, Hegseth has also directed the military to shed an additional 10% of its general and flag officers across the force, which could include any one-star or above or officer of equivalent Navy rank.
There are about 800 general officers in the military, but only 44 of those are four-star generals or flag officers. Hegseth has already directed the firings of more than a half-dozen three- and four-star generals since taking office, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, saying those eliminations were “a reflection of the president wanting the right people around him to execute the national security approach we want to take.”
Hegseth said the cuts aimed to free the military from “unnecessary bureaucratic layers.”
The Pentagon is under pressure to slash spending and personnel as part of the broader federal government cuts pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration and ally Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Hegseth last week ordered a sweeping transformation to the Army to “build a leaner, more lethal force,” including merging or closing headquarters, dumping outdated vehicles and aircraft, slashing as many as 1,000 headquarters staff in the Pentagon and shifting personnel to units in the field.
Also last week the Army confirmed that there will be a military parade on Trump’s birthday in June, as part of the celebration around the service’s 250th birthday. Officials say it will cost tens of millions of dollars.
The cuts were first reported by CNN.
Tara Copp is a Pentagon correspondent for the Associated Press. She was previously Pentagon bureau chief for Sightline Media Group.
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