US Army chief of staff fired by Hegseth

US Army chief of staff fired by Hegseth(reuters.com)

37 points by hedayet 45 days ago | 21 comments

mothballed 45 days ago |

There should probably be some kind of elected position, independent from the three branches, who's sole task is to veto presidential orders to the armed forces. The president having war powers without authorization of congress is probably desirable since congress is too slow, but some quick in the loop sanity check would be useful.

krapp 45 days ago | |

> The president having war powers without authorization of congress is probably desirable since congress is too slow, but some quick in the loop sanity check would be useful.

I disagree. The decision to go to war should always be slow and deliberate. I can't think of a single case where the President deciding to send troops on a whim without consulting Congress or getting their approval first ever worked out well.

mothballed 45 days ago | | |

I suppose the devil is in the details of "getting their approval" but it's worth noting Lincoln prosecuted the Civil War without seeking a declaration of war with congress.

fragmede 45 days ago | | |

The 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia in the Kosovo War by NATO did not have congressional approval and while it was not perfect or troops, I'd put it ever so slightly on the side of "well" vs the current debacle.

uncanny2 45 days ago | |

You mean like the ancient tradition of the Roman Censure. Someone who “monitors” the legislative branches and may “veto” any governmental action determined against the public good.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_censor

Jamesbeam 45 days ago | |

That is what they have General Claude for.

Gen. Claude sometimes misjudges things and hallucinates but that’s alright, because the president said the enemy is bombing their own girl schools with tomahawks so it’s ok to grab them by the meow.

Something the president practiced for years on a far away island. Trust the process.

readitalready 45 days ago | |

A lot of government would be improved by making elected positions be very specific roles.

Why are we deciding military strategy from a guy that was elected to fix labor rights? Should the same guy running the school system also be in charge of selecting Supreme Court justices?

Also, the founding fathers had it right: An independent electoral college should decide elected positions, not the general public. Hiring decisions should be left up to people that are expert at hiring, not random people.

The only role the general public should have in government is deciding their representative - it's literally in the name!

And executive branch isn't supposed to be a representative. It's only role is to execute laws created by the representatives.

maxerickson 45 days ago | | |

Really pushing the definition of elected there.

b40d-48b2-979e 45 days ago |

    Earlier this week, however, Hegseth reversed an Army decision to investigate Army pilots who
    were flying attack helicopters near singer Kid Rock's house, in an apparent show of support
    for the vocal Trump backer.

The corruption is never-ending.

jacquesm 45 days ago |

So, what are the odds of nukes/ground invasion/flyby being the cause for this (other than competence)?

unsnap_biceps 45 days ago | |

Seems like it was bog standard *isms

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/promotions-may-led-army-...

segmondy 45 days ago |

behold the incoming attempt at oct coup

jmye 45 days ago | |

I’m not following. Are you suggesting that Hegseth, maybe the second dumbest person to ever hold a cabinet position, is plotting a coup?

I also don’t follow how getting rid of “disloyal people” (given prior patterns, not as a comment on these moves specifically) would precede a Türkiye-style “coup”, either.

jfengel 44 days ago | | |

It wouldn't be Hegseth against the President. It would be an auto-coup, where the President forcibly remains in power.

The President is not about to leave office, but there is a very good chance that his allies will lose control of Congress. And he has hinted that he is willing to use the military to prevent that. If so, he might have told Hegseth to install a Chief of Staff who would implement those orders.

This is conjecture, of course. It's more likely a personal disagreement, apparently over a promotions list. (Hegseth wanted every non-white-man removed from the list.) But there have been just enough hints of an auto-coup to bring about speculation like that.

mitchbob 45 days ago |

https://archive.ph/2026.04.03-000904/https://www.reuters.com...

Earlier this week, however, Hegseth reversed an Army decision to investigate Army pilots who were flying attack helicopters near singer Kid Rock's house, in an apparent show of support for the vocal Trump backer.