Topline
President Donald Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. from his position as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday, the latest in a series of high-profile firings made by the president as he attempts to restructure the federal government—and the military—to be more in line with his agenda and policies.
Brown Jr. served 16 months of his four-year term. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Key Facts
Trump thanked Brown for his service in a Truth Social post, announcing he will nominate Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine as the next chairman.
Brown, the former highest-ranking military official in the country, had 32 months left to serve in his four-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Brown, who advocated in 2022 for the Air Force to increase officer applications from people of color, was let go amid a push by Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to oust military leaders they view as too supportive of diversity efforts in the armed forces.
The firing came as part of a broader shakeup Friday: Hegseth announced the departures of the Navy’s top officer, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and the Air Force’s Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife.
Caine is a retired Air Force lieutenant general and was an associate director for military affairs at the CIA from 2021 to 2024.
Trump talked up Caine at a conference last year and claimed he’s shown support for Trump in the past, saying Caine put on a Make America Great Again hat while once meeting the president in Iraq in 2018, according to The New York Times.
Surprising Fact
Trump was reportedly expected to be on better terms with Brown late last year, when a meeting between the two at an Army-Navy football game led to the president “changing his tone” on Brown, according to NBC News. Prior to the meeting, Trump would namedrop Brown when talking about plans to fire military officials he viewed as too supportive of military diversity.
Key Background
Hegseth lashed out against Brown in a November episode of the the “Shawn Ryan Show,” saying Brown should be fired along with “Any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI woke s—…” In addition to threatening military leadership with firings, the Trump administration is targeting a 5% to 8% cut of the Defense Department’s civilian employees, part of a larger effort to slash the federal workforce. The administration also banned transgender people from serving in the military, which is being challenged in court through multiple lawsuits.
Further Reading
Here’s Where Trump’s Government Layoffs Are—FEMA, IRS, TSA And More (Forbes)
Trump Administration Reverses Layoffs At These Federal Agencies—After Accidentally Cutting Bird Flu, Nuclear Staff (Forbes)
