Pete Hegseth Faces Questions as Army Sets Leadership Vacancy Record
Newsweek · C · trust 51/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. The U.S. Army marked 150 days without a Senate-confirmed chief of staff on Sunday, as Republican friction over acting chief General Christopher LaNeve stalled progress toward filling the post.
The milestone underscores the Trump administration’s overhaul of Pentagon leadership. The vacancy comes as the Army contends with the demands of an ongoing conflict with Iran in the Middle East and rapidly evolving drone warfare on the battlefields of Ukraine .
LaNeve, regarded as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ’s preferred choice for the permanent assignment, has faced reservations from some lawmakers. The delay has intensified scrutiny over whether Senate Republicans are increasingly weighing military expertise against political alignment as the administration reshapes the armed forces' highest ranks.
Newsweek has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment via email.
Related Story Hegseth Firings of Generals Draw Bipartisan Concern, Calls for Limits Leadership Shakeups and Opposition More than 20 top officers have been fired or pushed aside in the U.S. military during the current administration, while Hegseth has reportedly blocked dozens of promotions across the Army, Air Force and Navy.
Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said earlier this month he knew of "some opposition within the committee” to LaNeve—who has been acting Army chief of staff since Hegseth fired General Randy George on April 2—staying on permanently.
The last time the U.S. Army spent so long without a Senate-approved chief of staff was in 1972 when General Creighton Abrams took over from acting head General Bruce Palmer, who had overseen the army for three months without being signed off by lawmakers.
There are no indications Hegseth is close to filling the vacant position at the top of the Army command chain, The New York Times reported earlier this week, citing anonymous current and former officials. LaNeve, who has not yet been formally nominated by President Donald Trump to the position, could theoretically stay on in his acting role for his term as vice-chief, if no other candidate is confirmed by lawmakers.
Related Story Pete Hegseth Pushes Out Top General Amid Iran War Political Loyalty vs. Military Experience It is "really concerning" that so much time has passed without a Senate-confirmed Army chief of staff, a Senate Democratic aide speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject told Newsweek . LaNeve has "really shot up the ranks," and has a reputation for loyalty to Hegseth's political agenda, they added.
LaNeve previously served as Hegseth's senior military assistant, and Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, has described him as "a battle-tested leader with decades of operational experience and is completely trusted by Secretary Hegseth to carry out the vision of this administration without fault."
LaNeve previously commanded the elite 82nd Airborne Division but has only spent a matter of months at the rank of four-star general. Typically, service chiefs of staff have a year-and-a-half under their belt at a four-star level, and concern over LaNeve only recently being promoted has fueled Senate unease, including from Republicans.
Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst —a former Army National Guard commander who pressed Hegseth on his views on women in the military ahead of his own Senate confirmation—is among the GOP members on the committee reluctant to greenlight LaNeve, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ernst told Politico in an interview earlier this month that LaNeve’s lack of experience is not a sticking point to her opposition.
“I don’t think that time and grade has anything to do with leadership ability, so I don’t know how that came about, honestly,” the senator said. “That’s not what I’ve told anyone.”
Senators are facing mounting evidence that "Hegseth’s routine firing of senior officers is creating a cadre of military leaders that is more focused on loyalty to Hegseth than military professionalism," retired U.S. Air Force Major General Steven Lepper, who previously served as the branch's deputy judge advocate general, told Newsweek .
Under Hegseth, the military's service branches have been reshaped around an "anti-woke" platform emphasizing traditional masculine ideals and a shift away from legacy legal frameworks.
"No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship, no more division, distraction or gender delusion, no more debris. I've said before and will say again, we are done with that s***," Hegseth said last year.
The overhaul has included the high-profile ouster of top military leadership. Last year's departures featured Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General C.Q. Brown—only the second Black general to hold the post—and Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead naval operations. The military's top uniformed lawyers, tasked with ensuring that orders given to service members comply with the law, were also dismissed.
Internal friction has also impacted civilian leadership. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is reportedly planning to step down before the end of the year amid ongoing tensions with Hegseth, which would create another major vacancy at the top of the chain. Driscoll had previously championed George, describing him to lawmakers as an "amazing transformational leader."
Months later, General Chris Donahue, the commander of U.S. Army troops in Europe and the head of NATO's land forces, unexpectedly stepped down after speculation swirled that he was under pressure from the Pentagon. A popular figure in Europe who has spent just 18 months in the job, Donahue is widely known as the last man out of Afghanistan following the troop withdrawal in 2021 and was seen as linked to the Biden administration,…
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