Secretary Of War Pete Hegseth Asks Army General To Retire, Report Claims

“We are grateful for his service, but it was time for a leadership change in the Army,” a senior official reportedly told the outlet.

“One of the sources said Hegseth wants someone in the role who will implement President Trump and Hegseth’s vision for the Army,” the outlet wrote.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down and take immediate retirement, sources familiar with the decision told CBS News.

One of the sources said Hegseth wants someone in the role who will implement President Trump and… pic.twitter.com/NRdOyt8HJ3

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 2, 2026

CBS News shared further:

George previously served as the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin from 2021-2022, during the Biden administration, after decades of service. A career infantry officer and West Point graduate, George first served in the first Gulf War and the more recent conflicts of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army chief of staff typically serves a four-year term. George was nominated for the position by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate in 2023, meaning he would typically have held the position until 2027.

The current vice chief of staff of the Army, Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who was formerly Hegseth’s military aide, will be acting Army chief of staff. He previously served as the commanding general of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division from 2022 to 2023.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said LaNeve is “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.”

“US government official tells me SecWar Pete Hegseth is ‘seriously considering’ the options for transferring a 3 or 4-star Marine general into the Army to possibly replace Gen. Randy George as the Army Chief of Staff,” investigative journalist Laura Loomer said last week.

“This would obviously be unprecedented, but it would send a very strong message given the fact that Gen. George was nominated to be Army Chief of Staff by Joe Biden in 2023,” she added.

SCOOP:

US government official tells me SecWar @SecWar Pete Hegseth @PeteHegseth is “seriously considering” the options for transferring a 3 or 4-star Marine general into the Army to possibly replace Gen. Randy George as the Army Chief of Staff.

This would obviously be… pic.twitter.com/zD2GNRw8Qo

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 26, 2026

Daily Mail has more:

Hegseth’s decision comes as 50,000 US troops are deployed in the Middle East ahead of a possible ground invasion in Iran.

George is the senior-most uniformed officer in the Army – a four-star general and the 41st Chief of Staff responsible for organizing, training and equipping more than one million soldiers, though not a field commander directing tactical strikes.

George reports to General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, the civilian head of the branch; and Hegseth, whose highest military rank was as an Army major.

George was confirmed by the Senate in 2023 and is significantly short of completing the typical four-year term.

Hegseth has purged more than a dozen senior officers, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.Q. Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff General James Slife and the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse.

Born and raised in Iowa, George enlisted in the Army in 1982 and graduated from West Point in 1988.

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