参议员马克·凯利（亚利桑那州民主党人）表示，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯解除美国军方高级将领和海军上将职务的做法“正在损害我们的战备状态”。凯利是一名退役宇航员和海军上校，也是参议院军事委员会成员。他说，赫格塞斯上周宣布的将高层将领削减20%的计划只会损害国家安全。“当你损害战备状态时，意味着我们所有人……都不那么安全，因为我们拥有这个国家历史上最不合格的国防部长，”凯利周日在哥伦比亚广播公司新闻节目《面对国家》上表示。他还指责赫格塞斯经常“因为肤色或因为是女性”而解雇人员。
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ouster of top generals and admirals from the U.S. military are “damaging our readiness,” according to Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a retired astronaut and Navy captain. A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kelly said Hegseth’s intended 20 percent reduction of the top of the ranks — announced last week — would only hurt national security. “When you hurt readiness, it means that all of us ... are less safe because we have the most unqualified secretary of Defense we've ever had in this country's history,” Kelly said Sunday on CBS News’s "Face the Nation." He also accused Hegseth of often firing people “because of the color of their skin or because they’re women.”The Defense secretary last week defended the reduction in senior officers’ ranks as promoting “accountability” and “long overdue,” in a speech at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Va.
国防部长上周在弗吉尼亚州匡提科海军陆战队基地的演讲中为削减高级军官职务辩护，称这是为了促进“问责制”，且“早就该做了”。此后，几位共和党资深参议员表示，他们对这一决定感到意外，且对未与国会协商感到不满。这些共和党议员还担心，太多经验丰富、资质优秀的将军和海军上将因政治或意识形态原因被迫离职。
Several top Republican senators have since said they were blindsided by the decision and are not pleased about the lack of consultation with Congress. These GOP lawmakers also worry too many experienced and highly qualified generals and admirals are being pushed out because of political or ideological reasons. Adding to the furor is Hegseth’s reported intervention to stop the promotion of several Army officers, including Black and female officers who had been on track to become one-star generals.
据《纽约时报》6月报道，赫格塞斯据称还介入阻止了几名陆军军官的晋升，其中包括原本有望晋升为一星将军的黑人和女性军官。赫格塞斯还阻止了九名由资深海军上将组成的选拔委员会选定的海军军官晋升。在此之前，赫格塞斯于2025年2月解雇了丽莎·弗兰切蒂海军上将——她是首位担任海军作战部长的女性——这一举措遭到民主党议员的批评。
Hegseth also blocked the promotion of nine Navy officers who had been selected by a board of senior admirals, The New York Times reported in June. Prior to that, Hegseth in February 2025 fired Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve as chief of Naval Operations — a move that was criticized by Democratic lawmakers.
五角大楼否认了晋升和强制退休基于身份政治的指控，赫格塞斯在匡提科的演讲中告诉听众，他的机构依然保持“肤色无关、性别中立且唯才是举”。自从身为陆军老兵和前福克斯新闻主持人的赫格塞斯被任命领导五角大楼以来，这位国防部长与凯利经常公开交锋。赫格塞斯因凯利出现在一段视频中而发起的惩罚行动——视频中六名民主党人告诉军人拒绝执行非法命令——迄今在法庭上一直处于败诉境地。
The Pentagon has denied claims that promotions and forced retirements were based on identity politics, with Hegseth telling the audience during his address at Quantico that his agency remains “colorblind, gender-neutral and merit-based.”The Defense secretary and Kelly have often sparred publicly since Hegseth, an Army veteran and former Fox News host, was appointed to lead the Pentagon. Hegseth's campaign to punish Kelly for appearing in a video, in which six Democrats told members of the military to refuse illegal orders, has been a loser in court so far.