Overview
- On Friday, July 3, 2026, Charles Q. Brown Jr. published an essay in Foreign Affairs and spoke at an Aspen Institute event to warn that the military is being pulled into partisan politics.
- Brown says deploying troops to U.S. cities for politically charged missions shifts the services away from their primary combat role and risks normalizing the use of force for domestic politics.
- He and panelists described personnel actions at the Pentagon under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that have removed officers from promotion lists and pushed some senior leaders toward retirement.
- Reporting highlights the case of Gen. Chris Donahue, who relinquished his post as the Army’s top officer in Europe after the Pentagon downgraded his command, as an example of the personnel moves critics call a purge.
- Congress and legal analysts are moving to increase oversight by requiring prompt notifications and limits on unilateral senior‑officer changes because critics say the actions harm morale, diversity and trust in the promotion process.