Top lawyer for military joint chiefs stepping down early, citing ‘personal reasons’

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The senior legal counsel to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine is stepping down nearly a year ahead of schedule — the latest top official to leave or be pushed out of the Pentagon since the start of the second Trump administration.

Brig. Gen. Eric Widmar told ProPublica he was leaving “for personal reasons” after serving in the role since 2024.

“Earlier this year, my wife and I reflected on the demands of this role, which have required me to live apart from my wife for the past two years and created additional challenges for me and my family,” he said in a statement to the outlet. “After careful consideration, I decided it was time to place my family at the center of my life and focus on our next chapter together.”

Widmar joins a long line of top military officials to exit the Pentagon in the past 18 months, following Gen. Chris Donahue, the head of Army forces in Europe and Africa who was reportedly pushed out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth halfway through his tenure and relinquished his command last week.

Before that, Hegseth in April ousted Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George roughly two and a half years into a typical four-year term.

And late last year, the Defense secretary removed U.S. Southern Command leader Adm. Alvin Holsey with two years left in his term. That firing came as Holsey oversaw controversial drone strikes on supposed drug-carrying boats in the waters around South America.

In February 2025, less than a month into his role as Pentagon chief, Hegseth fired the top lawyers for the Army, Air Force and Navy because he didn’t think they were “well-suited” to provide recommendations when lawful orders are given, he noted at the time.

Legal experts at the time worried that Hegseth was chopping away at the laws of armed conflict in an attempt to remake the military as more aggressive on the battlefield with a “warrior ethos” in mind.

Caine, the principal military adviser to President Trump and Hegseth, said in a statement to The Hill that Widmar “is a fantastic Officer and Lawyer” who served the entire U.S. and thanked him for his “remarkable” service.

“I’m personally deeply grateful for Eric and his Family’s service and deeply respect his decision to prioritize his family as he moves on to the next chapter,” Caine said. “He is deeply respected and admired by all. … We will miss his legal counsel, incredible expertise and experience, and his understanding of our responsibility to always speak truth to power.”

Hegseth’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A West Point graduate, Widmar has spent more than 28 years in the military and previously served as the staff judge advocate for U.S. Central Command. While there, he was responsible for leading a team of more than150 legal professionals from across all five military services.

He reportedly gave guidance to Caine in November that a military commander should request to retire — rather than resign in protest or pick a fight — if they determine they have received an unlawful order, CNN reported in December.

The guidance came as lawmakers and legal experts had repeatedly questioned the legality of the U.S. military’s ongoing drug boat strikes in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

There also is ongoing scrutiny over a U.S. strike on an Iranian school earlier this year that killed nearly 200 children and adults. Senior military commanders reportedly bypassed warnings in databases that intelligence about potential targets in Iran was years old and approved some strikes, including the one that hit the school, CNN reported.

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Brig. Gen. Eric Widmar

Dan Caine

Gen. Chris "C.D." Donahue

Gen. Dan Caine

Pete Hegseth

Pete Hegseth

President Trump

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