Here are the military officials who've been fired or resigned under Hegseth

At least 20 generals, admirals and civilian defense leaders have been fired or have departed their jobs since Pete Hegseth became defense secretary at the beginning of the second Trump administration.

Some of the military's most decorated leaders have either been fired by Hegseth and President Trump or have retired with little explanation, including the Army, Navy and Air Force's highest-ranking officers and the leaders of key units. The Army and Navy's top civilian leaders have also either been forced out or resigned.

Before becoming defense secretary, Hegseth had criticized military officers, accusing them of being too focused on diversity initiatives and insufficiently supportive of frontline service members. Before he was nominated, he said on a podcast that "any general that was involved — general, admiral, whatever — that was involved in any of the DEI woke s*** has got to go."

The Trump administration has pushed out top female and Black officers, and Black and female officers have been disproportionately removed from promotion lists, a source familiar with the lists told CBS News. There are currently no active four-star women generals or admirals in the military. Many of those who failed to secure promotions have left the military.

Others were ousted by Hegseth over suspected leaking to the media. And in some cases, Hegseth has clashed with top officials like Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who handed in his resignation this week.

A source familiar with Driscoll's resignation said he had expressed concerns that many of the generals who had been leading efforts to transform the Army for the next generation of warfare had been pushed out by Hegseth.

Here are the top military and civilian leaders who have left the Defense Department during Hegseth's tenure as defense secretary:

Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Mr. Trump abruptly fired Brown in a February 2025 social media post thanking him for his service, 16 months into Brown's four-year term as the top-ranking military officer.

Brown is a former fighter pilot with more than 3,100 flight hours, and was only the second Black general to serve as chairman in the history of the military. All Hegseth told Fox News about the ouster was that the president should be able to pick his adviser. He said Brown is "an honorable man, not the right man for the moment."

Franchetti was the first woman to be part of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the second to be promoted to four-star admiral. Biden nominated her to be chief of naval operations in 2023, after she headed the 6th Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Korea, and was commander of a naval destroyer and an aircraft carrier strike group.

Hegseth relieved Franchetti of her duties without explanation on the same day that Brown was fired.

After Mr. Trump announced Brown's departure in February of last year, Hegseth put out a statement pushing out Franchetti and Slife.