The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has fired Secretary of the Navy John Phelan. This comes after Hegseth fired Army Chief of Staff General Randy George. Hegseth keeps firing senior leaders, often arguing the fired were “woke,” but the common thread seems to be that they had good relationships with the President and were competent.
When I was in college, I would go back to Louisiana in the summer to work for the public school from which I had graduated. The school was in a building that combined K-12, but elementary, middle, and high schools were separate entities until after I graduated. Then, a headmaster was hired and the schools consolidated under her. I worked for her.
The elementary school principal was, in my mind, the sharpest person in the building. He had it together. He wore well tailored suits. His office was spotless. He kept things organized. The headmaster asked me one day what I thought of each of the principals and I told her that guy seemed to be the best. She laughed and said, “Sometimes people dress up as competent to mask incompetence or insecurity.” That lesson stuck with me and, as it turned out, that elementary school principal’s management style was one of deep insecurity. He worked hard to push out the door anyone who was actually competent.
Mr. Hegseth is like that elementary school principal. Like Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi, he performs for the camera. MAGA loves Hegseth. He runs with the enlisted. He cusses on camera. He is boisterous and full of swagger and bravado. He wants to be known as the Secretary of War and rebranded his department in defiance of federal law that designates it the Department of Defense. Who cares about the law and Congress. Department of War is very bro and he is a bro’s bro.
More and more it seems, just like that elementary school principal, Hegseth is pushing out anyone who might have a relationship with the President or shine competently behind the scenes compared to him. According to multiple press outlets, the problems with Secretary Phelan began when Phelan publicly mentioned his personal relationship with President Trump and how they would often talk directly about the President’s fleet he wants built.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has struck many on Capitol Hill as being highly competent. According to the Wall Street Journal, Driscoll, who is a close friend of the Vice President’s, is now on Hegseth’s naughty list for drawing attention to himself and favor from the President and because he seems to have his own power center tied to his Vance friendship. Driscoll supported and defended General George who, contrary to anonymous claims, was not woke, but highly competent. Driscoll refused to fire the Army Chief of Staff and, while Driscoll was on his family vacation, Hegseth did it himself.
In November, again according to the Wall Street Journal, the President sent Driscoll to participate in Ukraine negotiations. But Hegseth complained about it and had Driscoll sidelined.
Multiple other staff close to Hegseth or working for Hegseth have arbitrarily been fired. Some were accused of leaking classified documents, though there has been no proof or prosecutions. Those claims came after Hegseth himself put classified information into a compromised group chat.
The nation is in a state of war with Iran and heads keep rolling at the Pentagon. Some were appropriate. Increasingly, however, the firings reek of an insecure man firing secure men who amplify his insecurities. This is not healthy or good. Some will stand behind Hegseth and insist he is purging bad guys and woke guys. But the internal divisions a the Pentagon and the dysfunction are becoming increasingly public. From dismissing staff after Hegseth’s own mistakes to feuding with Driscoll and ousting senior military officials when others are out of the building, Hegseth seems more and more willing to cast aside anyone whose competence makes him seem incompetent.
Eventually, these sorts of things have a way of sorting themselves out. We just cannot be sure how much damage will be inflicted and how much institutional competence will be lost before the Secretary of Defense’s insecurities catch up to him.
