Appropriators decry firing of Army chief

John M. Donnelly, CQ-Roll Call on Apr 16, 2026

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WASHINGTON — At a hearing Thursday, leading House appropriators from both parties condemned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recent firing of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George.

Members of the House Armed Services Committee, including GOP Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, had delivered a similar message about George at a hearing the previous day.

Hegseth fired George on April 2 without explanation, even though the general still had more than a year to go on a standard tenure for an Army chief.

Hegseth and George had reportedly clashed over Hegseth’s unusual decision in March to overturn an Army personnel board’s recommendation by blocking the promotion of four Army colonels.

Two of the officers were Black and two were women, raising speculation that their careers may have fallen victim to Hegseth’s campaign against so-called diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Hegseth has fired a slew of top officers in the last year, and a disproportionate percentage of them were minorities.

George was said to also have been a target of Hegseth because George had formed a close relationship with former Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III.

‘Real loss’

At a Thursday hearing of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army vice chief who is now also the acting chief, appropriators assailed George’s firing.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., the Appropriations Committee chairman, said George’s termination resulted in a “real loss” for the Army.

Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif, the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said “most of us here agree” with Cole and hold George “in high esteem.”

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., a former Army National Guard colonel, expressed “regret” at George’s firing.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the committee’s top Democrat, said she was “upset and disturbed” about George’s treatment.

Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, said George was “summarily” and “cruelly” fired and lawmakers are owed “some explanation” as to why.

Hugs and adoration

Driscoll, for his part, made clear he played no role in George’s firing and in fact suggested he was not on board with it.

The secretary said he was vacationing with his family in North Carolina at the time and “drove straight to Gen. George’s house” after hearing the news.

“We walked right in and we all gave him a hug,” Driscoll said. “There is no person that has more respect for Gen. George and his 42 years of service, his Purple Heart, his wife Patty, their grandkids, their kids. I adore them, and he was an amazing, transformational leader.”

On the same day George was fired, Hegseth had terminated, also for unstated reasons, Gen. David Hodne, who had led the Army’s Transformation and Training Command, and Maj. Gen. William Green, who had headed the Army’s Chaplain Corps.

DeLauro said she “can’t fathom what the reasoning is” behind Green’s firing.

Driscoll himself has also clashed with Hegseth over numerous issues, including the blocking of the four colonels’ promotions. Driscoll, a Yale law school classmate of JD Vance, is a longtime ally of the vice president.

At the hearing, Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif, decried the actions against the four colonels and what he believes it suggests about possible politicization of the ordinarily impartial process of military promotions.

“We need to understand the process is fair and just,” Aguilar said.