Ex-Army official rips Trump defense secretary for 'shattering the military’s trust'

Despite being attacked by Democrats as woefully unqualified, many of President Donald Trump's most controversial nominees were confirmed by the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate — including National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Democrats, before voting on Hegseth, warned that the former Fox News host didn't have the experience necessary to lead the Pentagon. But only three Senate Republicans (Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine's Susan Collins) joined Democrats in voting against him.

In an op-ed published by The Hill on March 7, former military official Alex Wagner argues that being inexperienced is the least of the problems with Hegseth's weeks as defense secretary.

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Wagner served in various U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army positions under Democratic former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, including chief of staff to the Army secretary.

"Don't be distracted by his cartoonishly adorned suits or slavish focus on imaginary enemies like 'DEI,'" Wagner argues. "President Trump's choice of Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense represents a dangerous precedent, and not only because Hegseth is uniquely inexperienced for the job. He is weak by design. His opening acts prove it: Hegseth orchestrated unprecedented removals of top military leaders, including the first-ever firing of a chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the military’s two most senior women."

Wagner adds, "Perhaps even more alarming is his purge of the military services' senior lawyers — general officers who understand their oath is to the Constitution, not to any individual."

Hegseth's top priority for the Pentagon, Wagner laments, isn't "merit" or qualifications — it's loyalty to Trump.

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"What I know from nearly a decade of working in the Pentagon alongside leaders, both civilians and military, is that meritocratic-based leadership actually does matter," the former Pentagon official explains. "Seasoned leaders arrive in senior positions with enough confidence in their experiences to encourage and embrace dissenting views. They intentionally seek out diverse opinions and identify equally accomplished peers to inform high-stakes deliberations. They make tough calls based on evidence. And they recognize that when a decision comes to their desk, if it were easy, someone far lower down would have already made it."

Wagner continues, "In the months ahead, Hegseth's weakness will become glaring on the global stage, where he'll likely continue to stumble through engagements with foreign partners. Here at home, service members who have dedicated their lives and careers to their country will see right through him. This creates a deeper threat: By installing a deliberately weak civilian leader, Hegseth's paranoia imperils the very principle of civilian control of the military — a cornerstone of American democracy…. By gutting the credibility of civilian oversight, he is shattering the military’s trust that civilian leaders — of any party — can rise above and put the nation’s security first."

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Alex Wagner's full op-ed for The Hill is available at this link.