War Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce a 20% cut to general and admiral positions. It doubles last year’s reduction target.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to announce a 20% reduction in the number of positions reserved for generals and admirals during a State of the Force address Wednesday at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, according to Fox News Digital. The new target doubles a 10% reduction he ordered for general and flag officer billets across the services in 2025.
The cuts apply to billets, meaning designated leadership positions, rather than an across-the-board removal of 20% of officers currently serving in those ranks, a War Department source told Fox News. Hegseth has described the broader effort as “less generals, more GIs,” arguing that reducing senior headquarters positions pushes resources and authority toward troops closer to combat operations. Commands have been asked to send only top-performing service members who meet fitness, body-composition and grooming standards to attend the address, according to published reports on internal Pentagon guidance. The reductions are expected to be completed by Jan. 1, 2027.
Wednesday’s address follows a separate directive Hegseth issued in April 2025 ordering a minimum 20% reduction specifically in four-star general and admiral positions, a move CNN first reported and that Hegseth said could eliminate eight or nine of the military’s most senior roles. The military had 38 four-star officers on active duty as of March 2025, according to Defense Department data, down from a wartime high Hegseth has cited of 44 in World War II with only seven four-star generals. Hegseth has said the cuts would proceed carefully but “expeditiously,” without providing a specific timeline for the earlier four-star reductions.
The Wednesday gathering falls exactly one year after Hegseth summoned hundreds of generals and admirals from around the world to Quantico for a meeting in which he outlined expectations for senior leaders and warned that those unwilling to support his reforms should step aside. Since taking office, Hegseth has fired or pushed out more than two dozen military leaders across the branches, personnel moves that have drawn concern from lawmakers in both parties, and has blocked some pending one- and two-star officer promotions, citing the president’s authority over military leadership.
Sources: This report is based on information from Fox News, The Hill, Reuters and CBS News.