据两位美国官员说，参谋长联席会议主席布朗将军(Gen. C.Q. Brown)和海军最高将领弗兰克提(Lisa Franchetti)都在本周提交给国会的将官名单上，国防部长黑格塞斯(Pete Hegseth)可能会解雇或解除他们目前的职务。
布朗和弗兰切蒂的发言人都拒绝置评。CNN首先报道了他们的名字在可能被删除的名单上。
“我们知道这些报道，但没有什么要补充的，”Franchetti的发言人告诉ABC新闻。
布朗是总统的最高军事顾问，自2023年10月以来一直是参谋长联席会议主席，他的四年任期将于2027年结束。
弗兰切蒂自2023年11月以来一直担任海军作战部长。
如果将军或高级官员拒绝辞职请求，总统有权解除他们的现任职务并重新分配他们。三星级和四星级的将军或上将只有在担任某些高级领导职务时才拥有这些军衔。如果被迫离开目前的职位，他们可能就没有其他的机会了，这种权力下放通常会导致职业生涯的终结。
两位警官都是受到海格塞斯的批评在他成为特朗普政府的国防部长之前。
“首先，你必须解雇参谋长联席会议主席，”Hegseth在11月的“肖恩·赖安秀”上说
“但是任何参与其中的将军——将军、海军上将，不管是谁——都必须下台，”他继续说道。“要么你参加战斗，就是这样。这是我们唯一关心的试金石。”
Hegseth在他的书《勇士之战》中对Franchetti穷追不舍，批评她缺乏战斗经验，并嘲讽她在凤凰城大学网络学院的硕士学位。
“如果海军作战遭受损失，至少我们可以昂首挺胸。因为至少我们还有一个第一!参谋长联席会议的第一位女性成员-万岁。对于社会正义理论家来说，公共关系比现实更重要，”他写道。
赫格塞斯也在书中多次批评布朗。
他写道:“军事标准曾经是能力、专业精神和‘任务第一’结果的标志，现在已经被正式纳入了我们的优先事项。”“你认为C.Q .布朗会凭直觉思考外部威胁和内部准备情况吗?没有机会。他尽职尽责地追求左翼政客的激进立场，从而打造了自己的将军形象，而左翼政客反过来又奖励他升职。
在他的书中，海格塞斯还质疑布朗是否值得被提拔为美国最高将领。
“我们永远不会知道，但总是会怀疑——这从表面上看似乎对C.Q .不公平，”他写道。“但既然他已经把种族牌作为自己最大的名片之一，那就真的没什么大不了的了。”
布朗是在第一届特朗普政府下获得提名在2020年初成为第一位黑人空军参谋长。在等待参议院批准这一职位时，乔治·弗洛伊德的死引发了全国性的抗议，布朗开始分享他对军队中种族不公正的看法。作为太平洋地区最高的空军将领，布朗发布了一段视频，描述了他经历的种族事件。
布朗还直言不讳地表达了他认为军队中基于种族的多样性的重要性。2022年，作为空军参谋长，布朗签署了一份备忘录，呼吁该服务致力于降低白人军官申请人的比例，同时提高其他种族的比例。
当...的时候美国广播公司新闻的玛莎·拉达茨问道在2024年1月，无论多样性、公平和包容性对军队有多重要，布朗说，“取决于你在哪里长大，当你进入我们的军队时，这可能是你有过的最多样化的经历。”
“为了让我们成为领导者，我们需要了解背景，了解一些我们有幸领导的人的事情，”他补充道。“这就是我们一些项目的价值所在。因此，我们有机会更多地了解他们的文化、历史、经历，并建立个人联系。”
在1月份的确认听证会上，当密歇根州参议员埃利萨·斯洛特金(Elissa Slotkin)问及布朗是否可能出现在被撤职的高级官员名单上时，海格塞思回避了他是否会解雇布朗的问题，他说，“参议员，每一位高级官员都将根据精英标准、杀伤力和对他们将获得的合法命令的承诺进行审查。”
但去年12月开始，布朗出现了一些积极的迹象，当时他在陆军-海军足球赛上与特朗普进行了一次友好的会面。海格塞斯在陆军和海军的比赛中与布朗短暂会面，布朗和当时的国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀在比赛的第二节会面了20分钟，并谈论了足球。
然后在1月27日，在海格塞斯的第一天到达在五角大楼担任部长时，他似乎给出了另一个软化他对将军的立场的信号。
当海格思的车队到达时，布朗向他敬礼，然后和他握手寒暄。在布朗的陪同下，海格塞斯走向一排等候的记者，回答了几个问题，其中一个问题是他是否打算解雇将军。
“我现在和他站在一起，”海格思拍着布朗的肩膀说。“我期待着与他合作。”
Joint Chiefs Chairman CQ Brown on list to be possibly removed by Hegseth
Gen. C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy's top admiral, are on the list of general officers provided to Congress this week whom Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could fire or remove from their current jobs, according to two U.S. officials.
Spokesmen for both Brown and Franchetti declined to comment. CNN was first to report their names were on the list for possible removal.
"We are aware of the reports but have nothing to add," the spokesman for Franchetti told ABC News.
Brown serves as the president's top military adviser and has been chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since October 2023, his four-year tenure is supposed to end in 2027.
Franchetti has been the chief of naval operations since November 2023.
The president has the authority to remove any general or senior officer from their current position and reassign them, should they refuse a request to resign. Three- and four-star generals or admirals only hold those ranks while in certain senior leadership roles. If forced out of a current role, there might not be another opening available for them, and such relief of authority is generally a career-ender.
Both officers had beencriticized by Hegsethprior to his becoming defense secretary during the Trump administration.
"First of all, you've got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs," Hegseth said in a November appearance on the "Shawn Ryan Show."
"But any general that was involved -- general, admiral, whatever -- that was involved in any of the DEI woke s--- has got to go," he continued. "Either you're in for warfighting, and that's it. That's the only litmus test we care about."
Hegseth went after Franchetti in his book, "The War on Warriors," criticizing her for lack of combat experience and mocking her master's degree from the University of Phoenix online college.
"If naval operations suffers, at least we can hold our heads high. Because at least we have another first! The first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- hooray. For social justice ideologues, PR matters more than reality," he wrote.
Hegseth also criticized Brown several times in the book.
"The military standards, once the hallmark for competency, professionalism, and 'mission first' outcomes, have officially been subsumed by woke priorities," he wrote. "You think C.Q. Brown will think intuitively about external threats and internal readiness? No chance. He built his generalship dutifully pursuing the radical positions of left-wing politicians, who in turn rewarded him with promotions."
Also in his book, Hegseth cast doubt as to whether Brown merited his promotion to be America's top general.
"We'll never know, but always doubt -- which on its face seems unfair to C.Q.," he wrote. "But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it really doesn't much matter."
Brown wasnominated under the first Trump administrationin early 2020 to become thefirst Black Air Force chief of staff. While awaiting Senate confirmation for that job, Brown began to share his thoughts on racial injustice in the military after George Floyd's death sparked nationwide protests. As the top Air Force general in the Pacific, Brown put out a video where he described racial incidents he had experienced.
Brown has also been vocal about what he sees as the importance of race-based diversity in the military. In 2022, while chief of staff of the Air Force, Brown signed a memo calling for the service to work toward lowering the percentage of white officer applicants while raising those of other races.
Whenasked by ABC News' Martha Raddatzin January 2024 whether how important diversity, equity and inclusion is to the military, Brown said, "Depending where you grew up, when you come into our military, this may be the most diverse experience you've ever had."
"In order for us to be leaders, we need to know the backgrounds and understand some things about those we're privileged to lead," he added. "And that's the value of some of our programs. So, we get a chance to know a little bit more about their, you know, culture, history, experiences and building that personal connection."
At his confirmation hearing in January, Hegseth danced around a question about whether he would fire Brown when asked by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., if Brown might be on a list of senior officers to be removed from their jobs, saying, "Senator, every single senior officer will be reviewed based on meritocracy standards, lethality and commitment to lawful orders they will be given."
But there were some positive signs for Brown beginning last December, when he had an amiable encounter with Trump at the Army-Navy football game. Hegseth met Brown briefly at the Army-Navy game, where Brown and then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met for 20 minutes during the second quarter of the game and talked about football.
Then on Jan. 27, on Hegseth'sfirst day arrivingat the Pentagon as secretary, he seemed to give another sign of softening his position in regard to the general.
Brown saluted Hegseth as his motorcade arrived, then shook his hand as the two exchanged pleasantries. With Brown by his side, Hegseth approached a line of waiting reporters and took several questions, including one on whether he intended to fire the general.
"I'm standing with him right now," Hegseth said, patting Brown on the shoulder. "I look forward to working with him."
