SecDef Hegseth responds to rumors he drafted ‘list’ of military officials he will purge

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denied rumors that he drafted a list of senior military leaders he allegedly planned to purge after the rumor tore through the Pentagon last week and reportedly kept flag officers on their toes. 

“I gotta ask you about this rumored list of people that you allegedly put together that we’re all going to be cleaned out. Is there a list? Is there anybody left on the list if it exists?” “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream asked Hegseth in an exclusive interview on Sunday morning. 

“There’s no list, Shannon,” Hegseth responded. “I’ve heard that, seen that very rumor, although we have a very keen eye toward military leadership and their willingness to follow lawful orders.”

Republican lawmakers on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees said Thursday that they had heard about such a list of senior military officials facing the chopping block, but had not been presented anything.

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth joins Fox News Sunday.

The rumors flew through the Pentagon Thursday, creating fear among top-ranked officers, as reports that thousands of probationary DOD employees, including many military veterans, could be affected by the federal workforce reductions ordered by the White House, Fox News Digital reported last week. 

The list allegedly contained a “handful of names.”

“I may have heard a rumor, but I’m not going to speculate on rumors,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told Fox News. “No one has approached me about such a list other than people asking me questions.”  

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President Donald Trump speaks as Tulsi Gabbard is sworn in as the director of national intelligence in the Oval Office of the White House, on Feb. 12. (AP/Alex Brandon)

Concerns over an alleged list mounted on Friday when Hegseth was slated to travel to Guatanomo Bay in Cuba to hold a media availability, but the trip was postponed until later this week. Some officials viewed the postponement as a signal the firings would be imminent, Fox Digital reported. 

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The Trump administration on Friday did fire six Pentagon officials, including Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, who was the first woman to serve as chief of naval operations. 

Gen. C.Q. Brown, Joint Chiefs chairman, speaks during a press briefing, April 26, 2024, at the Pentagon. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

“This is all about defending the Constitution,” Hegseth continued in his remarks to Bream after denying the existence of any “list.” “Joe Biden gave lawful orders. A lot of them are really bad, and it’s unfortunate how they eroded our military, ideological, COVID mandates. President Trump has given another set of lawful orders, and they will be followed.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth talks to the media during his visit to the headquarters of U.S. European Command and Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

“And all these orders are in keeping with the Constitution, and norms inside the military. If they’re not followed, then those officers will find the door. And that’s not a tough calculation. We feel really good about the direction the Pentagon is headed under President Trump. We’re going to focus on war fighting and lethality and accountability, and be the most transparent Pentagon that folks have seen in a long time,” he added. 

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Earlier in the interview, Hegseth added that the former Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. Brown, is an “honorable man, not the right man for the moment.”

 Fox News’ Louis Casiano, Alexandra Koch and Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.