Kaine says Hegseth ‘grudge’ against Army looks ‘personal’

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Sunday the ouster of Gen. Chris Donahue appears to be due to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “grudge” against the Army.

“Are you pushing out the truth tellers to surround yourself by yes-men? And in particular, it looks like the secretary is coming down hardest … on the Army,” Kaine told host Margaret Brennan on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”

“He served in the Army, he felt like he wasn’t treated well by the Army, that’s a grudge he’s carried that he’s described publicly. And so, when you see Army officers forced out, you got to wonder, is this a personal thing, or is it really what’s best for the nation?” the Virginia senator added.

Donahue, the commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, submitted his paperwork to retire earlier this week after a little more than a year in his role, according to a Pentagon official. The Army confirmed to The Hill that Donahue will relinquish command on July 2.

Donahue’s departure is the latest in a lengthy list of military leaders Hegseth has either removed or pushed out.

That includes Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Adm. Lisa Frachetti, the Navy’s chief of naval operations; Adm. Linda Fagan, the commandant of the Coast Guard; Gen. Randy George, the Army’s chief of staff; and Gen. James Mingus, the vice chief of staff of the Army.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed concern at Donahue’s departure. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a frequent GOP critic of the Trump administration, said Hegseth made an “unforced” error by forcing Donahue out.

“Strong leaders are not threatened by accomplished commanders. Weak ones are. His paranoid micromanagement of senior military leaders and promotion lists is pure insecurity dressed up as reform,” Tillis wrote Thursday on social media, referring to the Defense secretary.

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), though, said the facts about the general’s departure should come out first before observers jump to conclusions.

“I don’t automatically presume some improper decision was made by chain of command when somebody is let go and removed from a chain of command that was unexpected,” Higgins, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, told The Hill on Thursday.

Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Sunday that Donahue leaving his post “caught us all by surprise.” He also noted the panel does not “yet have good answers from the Pentagon” on the matter.

Earlier this month, the House Armed Services Committee adopted a provision in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to require the Pentagon to inform Congress, in writing, why senior military were fired or dismissed within five days.

Kaine also floated further congressional “guardrails” on Pentagon firings, saying senators could address such proposals when the NDAA reaches the floor of the upper chamber for a vote later this year.

“When we bring it up on the floor, I think by then, we’ll have some of our questions answered, and if we need to go [further] to put some guardrails in place, you’ll probably find bipartisan support to do that,” the Virginia Democrat told Brennan.

Filip Timotija and Sudiksha Kochi contributed.