Five former Pentagon chiefs signed an open letter calling on Congress to hold immediate hearings on President Donald Trump’s firings of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other defense officials.
In the letter, former Defense Secretaries Lloyd Austin, James Mattis, Chuck Hagel, Leon Panetta, and William Perry argued there was no justification for Trump to fire Air Force Gen. CQ Brown as the leader of the joint chiefs earlier this month. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later fired Adm. Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations; Gen. Jim Slife, vice chief of the Air Force; and the judge advocates general, or JAG, for the military services.
