专注于国防事务的参议员们对国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯削减20%海军上将和将军职位的提议反应冷淡。多位议员表示未见到赫格塞斯论证的依据，而另一些人则明显希望谈论其他话题。“不，我当然想详细了解他的理由，但我目前还没有看到，”参议员泰德·巴德（共和党，北卡罗来纳州）在被问及这是否是美国军方的明智之举时说道。
Defense-focused senators are giving a cool reception to Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth’s proposal to cut by 20 percent the nation’s admirals and generals. Several lawmakers said they had not seen the rationale for Hegseth’s argument, while others clearly wanted to talk about other things.
“我们专注于今天正在做的事情，”参黛比·费舍尔（共和党，内布拉斯加州）在被问及削减计划时告诉记者。周三，当记者走近参议员罗杰·威克（共和党，密西西比州）请其置评时，这位参议院军事委员会主席开始吟唱阿尔弗雷德·丁尼生爵士诗作《尤利西斯》中的诗句，该诗基于荷马的《奥德赛》。“港口在望；船只鼓起风帆；幽暗、辽阔的大海阴沉沉地铺展。我的水手们，那些与我共同劳作、创造、思考的灵魂，”威克吟唱道。
“No, I certainly want to see his rationale in detail, and I don't have that yet,” Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) said when asked if this was a good move for the U.S. military.
《国会山报》已联系赫格塞斯办公室置评。民主党人毫不意外地提出了更尖锐的批评。参议员埃莉莎·斯洛特金（民主党，密歇根州），前中情局分析师，周三表示，无论用何种标准衡量，赫格塞斯都在五角大楼实施一场“清洗”。“我从部内人士那里听到的只是士气有多低落。有多少身穿军装、极具潜力的人——有色人种或女性——觉得自己永远无法出人头地；无论他们干得多么出色，始终会被视为‘多元、公平与包容’（DEI）的产物，”斯洛特金告诉记者。
“We are focused [on] what we are doing today,” Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) told reporters when asked about the cuts.
也有共和议员对该提议表示审慎支持。参议员里克·斯科特（共和党，佛罗里达州），前海军雷达兵、特朗普总统的盟友，告诉《国会山报》他尚未见到该计划，“但一般来说，我认为大多数组织都变得头重脚轻，所以我认为作为他为确保拥有最高效军队、不浪费资金所做努力的一部分……”海格塞斯周三在弗吉尼亚州匡提科海军陆战队基地向现役军官发表了一场广泛的演讲，公开证实了这一计划。
When reporters approached Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) for comment on Wednesday, the Senate Armed Services chairman began singing lyrics from Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Ulysses,” which is based on Homer’s Odyssey.
这位国防部长辩称，这场将影响陆军、海军和空军高级领导层的重大改组早已该进行。“现在媒体称之为清洗。我称之为问责，这早就该进行了，坦率地说，这只是最低要求。和往常一样，媒体对我的指责，我将其视为一项成就，”海格塞斯在他时长52分钟的演讲中说道。“你看，你不可能用那些助长某种文化的人去改变这种文化。在每一个层面上，人事就是政策，”他说。
各军种被要求在明年1月1日前落实这些裁减，同时部分职位将被降级而非取消。这些人员变动发生在此前海格塞斯监督将将军人数削减10%之后，而且在他接掌五角大楼以来，已经开除或逼退了各军种的24名以上高级军官——这些变动令两党议员感到不安。
“There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail; there gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners, souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me,” Wicker sang.
民主党国家安全议员表示，这位国防长官的裁员将进一步使军队感到不安，并导致五角大楼内部士气受损。参议院军事委员会民主党籍首席成员、来自罗德岛州的参议员杰克·里德周二晚在这些计划正式宣布前对《国会山报》表示，这些裁员将“给军队带来进一步的混乱和困惑，而且他没有为自己的决定提供任何框架。这似乎是随意的，它将对军队造成伤害而不是帮助。”
The Hill has reached out to Hegseth’s office for comment.
来自南达科他州的共和党参议员迈克·朗兹周二晚表示，他是从新闻媒体上得知即将进行的裁员消息的，但并未收到五角大楼的相关简报。“我不知道他的计划是什么，”朗兹在谈到海格塞斯时对《国会山报》说。
Democrats have, unsurprisingly, been more vocal with their criticisms.
除了解雇或撤换高级军事将领外，赫格塞斯还阻止了陆军、海军和空军中数十名军官的晋升计划，这一举措引发了民主党人、部分共和党人以及前国防官员的强烈反对。赫格塞斯的盟友和支持他的共和党议员表示，五角大楼的负责人并不考虑军人的种族或性别因素，所有军事领导人的任命都由总统决定。赫格塞斯周三表示：“去年的演讲并不是针对那些将军们的；而是针对你们——我们军队的中坚力量，以及未来的前线领导者。”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a former CIA analyst, said Wednesday that by any standard, Hegseth is carrying out a “purge” at the Pentagon.
在赫格塞斯的领导下，五角大楼内部的人员变动令一些共和党参议员感到担忧；他们虽然对他失去了信心，但也承认最终的决定权仍掌握在特朗普手中。斯洛特金在接受《The Hill》采访时指出：“虽然大家内心都感到沮丧，但私人情绪与公开表现出来的勇气之间是有很大区别的。”她提到了像前众议员迈克·罗杰斯（Mike Rogers，共和党，密歇根州）这样的共和党候选人，他们已经呼吁结束美国对伊朗的战争。
“And what I've been hearing from people inside the department is just how bad morale is. How many folks in uniform, extremely promising people, who are people of color or women just feel like there's no way they'll ever get ahead; that they'll always be perceived as a DEI case, no matter how fantastic a job they do,” Slotkin told reporters.
一位参议院共和党消息人士告诉《The Hill》：“大家最担心的是，这位国防部长没有向总统如实汇报情况，我们的确认为他的行为让总统在处理伊朗问题时陷入了非常尴尬的境地。”康涅狄格州民主党参议员理查德·布卢门撒尔（Richard Blumenthal）批评赫格塞斯在削减军官人数时采取了“极其严厉”的手段，且没有与国会进行沟通（而按照规定，他本应这么做）；他还表示：“在裁员过程中，赫格塞斯更看重政治忠诚度而非个人能力。”
There were some Republicans offering measured support for the proposal.
“因此，或许有必要减少军官的数量；但没有任何证据表明他在进行任何系统性、有策略性的监督工作——无论是从军官的数量还是具体人选的选择上来说；他的行为纯粹属于个人歧视。”这位康涅狄格州的参议员表示，国会肯定会对此表示反对，尤其是如果民主党在参议院占据多数席位的话。众议院军事委员会成员、空军退伍军人克里斯蒂·霍拉汉（Chrissy Houlahan，民主党，来自宾夕法尼亚州）指出：“通过削减将军的职位数量，赫格塞斯（Hegseth）将拥有更大的权力来决定谁能够成为将军，而且他的影响力会持续更长时间。”
霍拉汉在周三的社交媒体上表示：“这些军人毕生致力于保护我们的国家；我们有责任为他们配备一位尊重他们的职业、认可他们的贡献，并能够将他们的专业知识应用于我们当前所面临挑战的国防部长。”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a former Navy radarman and President Trump ally, told The Hill that he hadn't seen the plan, “but as a general rule, I think most organizations have become top-heavy, and so I think as part of what he's doing to look and make sure we have the most efficient military, we don't waste our money. Hegseth publicly confirmed the plan during a wide-ranging speech to active-duty officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Wednesday. The defense secretary argued the major shake-up, which will affect senior leadership positions across the Army, Navy and the Air Force, was long overdue. “Now the media calls that a purge. I call it accountability and long overdue, and frankly, the bare minimum. As usual, what the media levels as an accusation, I wear as an accomplishment,” Hegseth said during his 52-minute address. “You see, you can’t change a culture with the same people who enabled it. Personnel is policy at every single level,” he said. Service branches are asked to implement the cuts by Jan. 1 next year, while some positions will be downgraded instead of eliminated. The personnel changes come a year after Hegseth oversaw a 10 percent reduction of general officers and after already firing or pushing out more than two dozen senior military officers across the service branches since taking over at the Pentagon — changes that have unnerved lawmakers in both parties. National security Democrats said the defense secretary’s cuts would further unsettle the military and contribute to degrading the morale inside the Pentagon. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the SASC ranking member, told The Hill late Tuesday, before they were formally announced, that the cuts will “add further disruption and confusion to the military forces, and he offered no framework for his decision. It seemed to be arbitrary, and it's going to cause harm rather than help [the] military.” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said late Tuesday he heard about the forthcoming cuts in the news media, but has not received a briefing from the Pentagon on it. “I don't know what his plan is,” Rounds told The Hill, referring to Hegseth. Apart from firing or pushing out senior military leaders, Hegseth has also blocked dozens of promotions across the Army, Navy and Air Force officers, promoting pushback from Democrats, a few Republicans and former defense officials. Hegseth’s allies and GOP lawmakers supportive of the defense secretary said the Pentagon chief does not consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor and that military leaders serve at the pleasure of the president. “You see, last year’s speech was not for those generals,” Hegseth said Wednesday, referencing his last year's speech at Quantico to top Pentagon brass. “It was for you, the backbone of our force, the current and future leaders on the front lines.” The staff turmoil at the Pentagon under Hegseth’s leadership is a major concern for some GOP senators, who have lost confidence in him, but have conceded that Trump’s is the one who makes the final call. “I mean, I think there's a lot of frustration under the surface, but there's a big difference between private frustration and public courage,” Slotkin told The Hill when asked if Hegseth is losing support among her Republican colleagues. She pointed to GOP candidates like former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich), who have now called for the U.S. war against Iran to end. “The great concern on the Hill is that the secretary is not being upfront with the president, and we all feel very much that the secretary has put the president in a very bad place with Iran,” a senate Republican source told The Hill on Monday. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Hegseth is going about the officer cuts in a “very draconian” way without coming to Congress, “which he is obligated to do.” “Second, he is putting political loyalty above merit in reducing the number of officers,” Blumenthal told reporters on Wednesday. “So there may be a need to reduce the number of officers, but there's no evidence that he's conducted any kind of systematic or intelligent or strategic oversight, either in the number or the specific individuals, beyond just personal discrimination.” The Connecticut senator said Congress will push back, especially if the Democrats take the majority in the upper chamber. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), an Air Force veteran who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said by cutting the number of posts for generals, Hegseth “gets more sway in choosing who becomes a General – and the longer his influence holds.” “These service members have dedicated their lives to protecting our nation and we owe it to them to have a SecDef that respects their careers, honors their service and applies their expertise to the challenges facing us today,” Houlahan said Wednesday on social platform