Pete Hegseth is preparing a major Pentagon shakeup, targeting one in five general and admiral positions

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is preparing another round of cuts at the top of the U.S. military. This time, he wants to reduce the number of positions reserved for generals and admirals by 20%, doubling the target he set last year.

Pentagon officials say Hegseth will order each military service to reach that goal by Jan. 1, 2027. He plans to announce the recent cuts Wednesday during his “State of the Force” address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, according to the Associated Press.

The change could touch positions held by officers ranked one-star and above, including the Navy’s equivalent admiral ranks. Hegseth has argued that the military has too many layers of senior leadership, but the Pentagon has not yet said which specific jobs it plans to cut.

One in five positions does not mean one in five officers will be fired

The 20% figure sounds dramatic, but it applies to positions, not an order to fire 20% of the generals and admirals currently serving. The Pentagon can reach that number by eliminating jobs, downgrading them, or simply leaving some positions empty when officers retire or move on.

That distinction matters because Congress sets limits on how many general and flag officer positions the military can have. As the Associated Press notes, the Pentagon can shrink those ranks over time by choosing not to send replacement nominations to Congress.

Hegseth and President Donald Trump have already made a series of separate leadership changes. Since taking office, they have fired or pushed more than two dozen military leaders into retirement, including former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, according to AP.

The administration has also removed the only two women who were serving as four-star officers. AP reports that women have made up a disproportionate share of other senior officers removed during the broader Pentagon shakeup.

Hegseth has been working toward this for more than a year

This is not the first time Hegseth has gone after the military’s senior ranks. In May 2025, his Pentagon memo ordered at least a 20% cut to active-duty four-star positions, another 20% reduction among National Guard generals, and a 10% cut to general and flag officer positions tied to a larger command reorganization.

At the time, Hegseth said the military needed to get rid of “unnecessary bureaucratic layers” and redundant leadership. The Defense Department also framed the effort as a way to simplify the chain of command rather than target individual officers.

It is still unclear whether the Pentagon finished all of those earlier cuts. Hegseth is now moving ahead with a steeper target anyway, pushing the overall reduction in general and flag officer positions from 10% to 20%.

That has already drawn concern from Congress. Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Hegseth needs to explain the reasoning behind the cuts and consult lawmakers before removing senior positions.

AP notes that Reed also warned that reducing senior leadership while the military is conducting major operations around the world could put more pressure on an already strained force. Hegseth has argued the opposite, saying fewer layers of command will make the military more efficient and move resources closer to the troops carrying out its missions.

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