Hegseth continues military purge —far below the generals: analysis

President Donald Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is continuing his purge of the military — and this time he's reaching below the rank of generals to do it, The Atlantic's Nancy A. Youssef and Missy Ryan reported on Tuesday.

This comes after Hegseth, who styles himself "Secretary of War" in response to a questionably legal executive order from Trump, already purged generals and admirals, ordering a 20 percent cut of personnel in a move that sparked outrage.

This time, though, he's going further down.

"The aide, Colonel Dave Butler, a former infantry officer, is a longtime leader in Army public affairs (not a specialty Hegseth embraces) who worked closely with the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley (whom Hegseth despises)," wrote Youssef and Ryan. "The issue was not that Butler was incompetent in his job; quite the opposite. Both Driscoll and the Army’s chief of staff, General Randy George, are said to have valued his advice, experience, and the reforms that he initiated — and it was their endorsement, when combined with Butler’s previous assignment with Milley, that ruined his chance of making the rank of general."

This is a highly unusual move that goes against protocol, and against the very system of promotion the military is supposed to use, they wrote.

"Defense secretaries don’t usually get involved in decisions about the careers of colonels and other mid-level commanders, given that the lead civilian in the Pentagon is supposed to oversee war planning, a department of 3 million people, and America’s nuclear arsenal," they wrote. "Ever since the World War I era, when the United States established a large-scale standing force, individual branches have typically had a say in promotions and other personnel decisions. These choices are supposed to be based on merit."

This comes at the same time Hegseth got a sharp smackdown from federal courts for trying to punish the political speech of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) through the military code.