Hegseth's Plan to Cut Senior Military Jobs Could Hit More than 120 High-Ranking Officers

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a welcome ceremony for President Donald Trump hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Royal Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Posted: May 14, 2025 --- Associated Press | By Lolita C. Baldor

Published May 13, 2025 at 5:29pm ET

WASHINGTON DC — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's plans to slash the number of senior military leaders across the services would cut more than 120 high-ranking officer jobs in the active duty and National Guard, including as many as 9 top general slots. Based on the percentages outlined by Hegseth and his senior staff, 20% of the 44 authorized top active duty General and Admiral jobs would be eliminated, along with 10% of the more than 800 1-, 2- and 3-star positions, according to numbers compiled by The Associated Press.

The cuts — about 9 positions among 4-star Generals and 80 jobs across the other leadership levels — would affect dozens of active duty officers scattered across the five services as well as those who are in joint command jobs, such as those overseeing Africa, the Middle East and Europe. The changes would eliminate 33 senior National Guard positions.

The cuts are part of a broader government-wide campaign to slash spending and personnel across federal agencies that is being pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration and ally Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to Hegseth and others, the intent of the military job reductions isn't to reduce the overall size of the force but to thin out the higher ranks and offset those cuts with additional troops at lower levels.

While the overall number of service members may not drop, the salary costs will be lower. Some Democratic members of Congress have criticized Hegseth's plans as an attempt to politicize the military and oust leaders that don't agree with the Trump administration. The changes also come as the world is roiled by conflicts, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and as the U.S. has troops deployed in Syria and elsewhere.

Shifting leadership responsibilities 

Military officials expect that as various jobs are downgraded — for example from a Lieutenant General in charge to a Major General or Brigadier General — more leadership responsibilities will fall on Colonels or Navy captains and other subordinates. And while many of the job cuts will come through attrition, as senior officers retire or move on, the services say they will have the flexibility to move people into higher priority positions and get rid of less critical posts.

"More Generals and Admirals does not equal more success,” Hegseth said in a video describing his plan. "This is not a slash and burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers. Nothing could be further from the truth. This has been a deliberative process.” Calling it the "Less Generals, More GIs” plan, he said the department will make "prudent reductions.”

How the cuts will hit the military services 

The Army, which is the largest service, is allowed to have a maximum of 219 high-ranking General officers and is expected to absorb a higher number of the cuts, while the Marine Corps will probably see little impact at the very top. There are only 2 Marine 4-star Generals, and the tiny Space Force also only has 2. "The Marine Corps, with our general officers, like our civilians and senior executives, is by far the leanest service," said Lieutenant Colonel Josh Benson, a Marine spokesman.

"Due to the already lean nature of the general officers in the Marine Corps, any cuts to Marine general officers will have an outsized impact to the Corps relative to other services.” He said nearly 33% — or 21 — of Marine Generals hold 2 or 3 jobs each, and as many as 10 positions are already empty. Army leaders, meanwhile, have already developed plans to merge or close headquarters units and staff. As many as 40 general officer slots could be cut as a result, officials have said.

The joint jobs would include leaders at regional commands, such as those in Europe, the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East, as well as administrative or functional commands, such as Cyber Command and Special Operations Command. Under the law, there currently can be no more than 232 of those joint officers, and they're spread across all the services. It's unclear how many of the cuts those jobs would absorb, versus the slots in each of the services. But officials have talked about merging some commands as the Pentagon reviews its overall leadership structure.

In addition to the joint command jobs, Congress stipulates the maximum number of high-ranking general officers in the services: 219 in the Army, 171 in the Air Force, 21 in the Space Force, 64 in the Marine Corps and 150 flag officers in the Navy. All combined, the services can't have more than 27 four-star officers, 153 three stars, 239 two stars and 210 one stars.

National Guard review and cuts 

The decrease in the National Guard stems from a review done by Guard leaders last year that identified more than 30 positions that could be cut among the 133 general officer jobs spread out across the government. There are about 30 general officers in the National Guard Bureau headquarters staff, and the rest are assigned to jobs in other federal agencies, including the FBI, CIA and the military commands.

Guard officials described their plan to Hegseth and Pentagon leaders, and it was approved. According to officials, it would result in 6 jobs cut from Guard Bureau staff and the rest from other military and government posts. The Adjutants General who run the Guard in each state are chosen by and work for the governors and so are not part of any cuts. They are largely 1-star and 2-star officers.