A new report said that a draft order creating a mechanism for reviewing America’s top military leaders is being considered by President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team.
The Wall Street Journal report claimed, the outlet has seen a draft of a document under consideration, which does not mean the document seen by the Journal will be approved as is or approved at all as one of the executive orders Trump has indicated will mark the opening days of his administration.
The order creates a board of retired military leaders that could find admirals or generals “lacking in requisite leadership qualities.”
The report equated the board’s creation with Trump’s past criticisms of “woke generals” and framed the order in dire terms, writing “an outside board whose members he appoints would bypass the Pentagon’s regular promotion system, signaling across the military that he intends to purge a number of generals and admirals.”
However, the report also noted that the draft order comes from an outside policy group and is being considered — as are many other proposals.
In its reporting, the Journal said commanders will be reviewed “on leadership capability, strategic readiness, and commitment to military excellence.”
Dubbing the panel a “warrior board,” the Journal said that it would report to Trump and that those who are removed would be retired at their existing rank within 30 days of being identified as deficient in leadership.
Karoline Leavitt did not comment on the draft, but spoke to the Journal in general terms.
Is this executive order a good idea?
Yes: 98% (870 Votes)
No: 2% (16 Votes)
“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,” she said.
The draft order comes in the context of plans by the new administration to streamline the Defense Department, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“It’s gotten way too big. Trump also expects that many of the generals, the three- and four-star generals that have been underperforming will basically be retired,” the Journal quoted a source it did not name as saying.
During Trump’s campaign, he has said that “woke” generals would be a target in his administration.
“I would fire them. You can’t have [a] woke military,” Trump said in June, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
The Journal report noted that Trump also said generals involved in the disastrous 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan could be targeted.
Trump has said he would seek resignations from those senior officers by “noon on Inauguration Day,” according to the Journal.
As noted by Reuters, Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to be defense secretary, has said sweeping changes need to take place at the Pentagon.
“The next president of the United States needs to radically overhaul Pentagon senior leadership to make us ready to defend our nation and defeat our enemies. Lots of people need to be fired,” Hegseth wrote in his book, “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.”
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