On Monday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) discussed the dismissal of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown and responded to a question on why the president shouldn’t have his own leadership team around him by stating that individuals should be picked on merit and “there’s a sense of continuity that the military services are not agents of the president, they are protectors of the nation and the Constitution. And Trump and Hegseth have thrown that out the window.”
Reed stated that the Trump administration wants a Pentagon that’s “subservient to the president, not obedient to the Constitution. And that is profoundly wrong. And in addition to the firing of these general officers, the secretary of defense also fired the judge advocate generals of all the military services, which is a very shocking development. In fact, I think it signals the fact that he intends not to follow the law. If you’re going to break the law, the first thing you do is get rid of the lawyers who will tell you about the law. So, we’re seeing an unprecedented transformation at the Department of Defense.”
Co-host A Martínez then asked, “Just one thing, though, on Charles Q. Brown. He had until September 2027 left in his term. So, three more years — or at least three years into President Trump’s final term as president. So why shouldn’t a president — especially in President Trump’s situation — not have his own leadership team around him for as long as he has left?”
Reed answered, “Well, one of the aspects of our professional military and one of the things that contributes to its success is, one, individuals are chosen on merit. And, two, there’s a sense of continuity that the military services are not agents of the president, they are protectors of the nation and the Constitution. And Trump and Hegseth have thrown that out the window. Not surprisingly, Trump is ignoring the laws left and right, but this will have a serious impact on the military, very much so.”
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