President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are continuing to cut thousands of government jobs, with defense secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly considering firing a number of military generals and flag officers next. But “Morning Joe” panelist Claire McCaskill thinks there’s a smarter target — the Pentagon itself.
On Thursday morning’s episode of the MSNBC talk show, the former politician scoffed at the idea that these military personnel would be targeted specifically for enacting DEI policies in the past.
“Frankly, many of them were just following orders,” she said. “So you’re going to fire somebody who has a storied military career because they were following orders? That’s not the way to build a strong military force.”
McCaskill also reminded viewers that the military remains entirely voluntary, and that “leadership in the military is earned. It is not given.” So, she argued, targeting these men and women enters “dangerous territory.”
“Now, let me say this. There are too many flag officers in the Pentagon, and if they want to go after waste, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel,” she added. “I can assure you, there are plenty of jobs that are duplicative and could be eliminated in the Pentagon. I spent a lot of time looking at waste and fraud in the Pentagon, so I’m not against them having fewer flag officers.”
You can watch the full discussion from “Morning Joe” in the video, above.
