House panel adopts measure on fired senior officers, putting pressure on Hegseth, Pentagon
The House Armed Services Committee passed a provision for the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requiring the Pentagon to notify Congress within five days why senior military officials were fired or removed.
The requirement was introduced by Rep. Pat Ryan (D-Y) and passed without objection in a bipartisan vote Thursday.
The ruling comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired two dozen senior military officers since taking over the Pentagon; This led to bipartisan concerns that veteran officials were being dismissed without explanation.
Hegseth at the beginning of this year highly respected was expelled Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Randy George, leading some House Republicans voicing opposition to the movement, to dispute That George was an experienced military leader.
Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) said he found George, who spent more than four decades in the Army and was close with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, to be a “patriotic American.”
“I won’t go into his full history, but he is an outstanding representative of our Army, and I regret the circumstances in which he left the service, and I think our country will regret it, too; that’s another story,” Womack said. in question At a House hearing in mid-April.
Even if passed by the committee, Ryan’s measure is a long way from becoming law because the House and Senate would need to adopt the text before it goes to President Trump’s desk for signature.
The central theme of Driscoll’s hearing on Capitol Hill in April was George’s impeachment.
“There is no one who has more respect for General George … he was an incredible, transformative leader,” Driscoll told House lawmakers at the time. “However, civilian leadership, the design of our system allows them to elect the leaders they want, and we follow those orders.”
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