Fox News Digital reported that “War Secretary” Pete Hegseth approved plans for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the military’s joint pool to reduce by 20% the positions reserved for generals and admirals, with the services directed to complete the reductions by January 1, 2027, according to memos the outlet says it reviewed.
What the reported plan would do
According to the source article citing Fox News, federal law authorizes 857 active-duty general and admiral billets across the Defense Department, and 851 were filled as of July. A 20% reduction would affect roughly 170 billets, leaving around 680. The source article also says some positions would be downgraded to the O-6 level (colonels and Navy captains) rather than eliminated outright.
Earlier steps and stated rationale
The source article asserts that this move follows an earlier 10% reduction announced last year, which it says separately targeted 20% of four-star positions and 20% of National Guard generals. It attributes to Hegseth the following statement from May 2025, as quoted by Fox News: “This is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers. This has been a deliberative process, working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff with one goal: maximizing strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions in the general and flag officer ranks.”
Additional claims not independently verified
The source article alleges that since January 2025 Hegseth has fired or blocked promotions for more than 80 generals and admirals; that at a gathering in Quantico last September he told senior officers to “get on board or get out”; and that this year commands were instructed to send top-performing service members who meet specific fitness, body-composition, grooming, and uniform standards, with some to work out alongside the secretary. These claims were not accompanied by documentation in the source material we reviewed.
Political pushback, per the source
The source article attributes to Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the warning that the plan “should alarm every American.” We have not confirmed this quote or its context.
What remains unclear
The source frames Hegseth as a “War Secretary” leading a “War Department.” Those titles are not standard in the modern U.S. government; the source material does not establish their current legal status. Details of the reported memos have not been independently verified by us beyond the Fox News Digital attribution.
