A group of five former US Defense Secretaries disagreed with Mr. Trump's dismissal of many senior military officials and called on Congress not to approve replacement nominees.
Mr. Charles Q. Brown has been Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff for less than half a term.
Reuters reported on February 28 that five former US Defense Secretaries strongly opposed President Donald Trump's dismissal of Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown and other senior officials.
In a strongly worded letter, they also called on Congress not to confirm any of the candidates proposed to fill those positions.
The letter was signed by four former Defense Secretaries William Perry, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel and Lloyd Austin under Democratic presidents, as well as James Mattis, who held the position from 2017-2019 under Trump's first term.
They accused Mr Trump of seeking to turn the US military into a partisan political tool and using the dismissals to “remove legal constraints on presidential power”.
Mr. Trump announced the above dismissals on February 21. Besides Mr. Brown, among those fired was Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first female Commander of the US Navy.
Air Force General Brown is the second African-American to serve as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, after Colin Powell, and is less than halfway through his four-year term.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
Fox News quoted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as saying that Mr. Brown was an honorable man but "not the right person at this time" and said that Mr. Trump had the right to choose his own team.
The group of former US defense secretaries has called for hearings in the US House of Representatives and Senate to “assess the national security implications” of the dismissals. Currently, the Republican Party holds majorities in both houses.
Mr Trump has chosen retired three-star general Dan Caine to replace Mr Brown. Mr Caine is a former F-16 pilot and will be promoted to four-star before going through a congressional confirmation process.
“Senators should refuse to confirm any new Defense Department nominations, including the nomination of retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” the former defense secretaries wrote.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/5-cuu-bo-truong-quoc-phong-my-phan-doi-ong-trump-sa-thai-si-quan-cap-cao-185250228101007822.htm
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