“The Secretary of War will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” said chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. President Trump earlier this year signed an executive order renaming the Defense Department as the Department of War and Hegseth as Secretary of War, but the name can only officially be changed by Congress.
The Pentagon has provided no other details about the meeting to either the military leaders or the press.
The news of the meeting was first reported in The Washington Post.
There are regularly scheduled meetings with senior military leaders, but a meeting of this size — in person and on such short notice — is rare, if not unprecedented.
Hegseth earlier this year said the Pentagon plans to cut down the number of generals and flag officers — that is, those holding the rank of at least rear admiral in the Navy or brigadier general in the Army, Air Force or Marines. The goal, according to a May memo, is to cut 20% of the four-star positions in the active-duty force and 20% of the generals in the National Guard.
During his first few weeks on the job, Hegseth held a town hall at the Pentagon and promised to look into whether every four-star general or admiral is necessary.
“We won World War II with seven four-star generals,” Hegseth said in February. “Today, we have 44. Do all of those directly contribute to warfighting success? Maybe they do, I don’t know, but it’s worth reviewing to make sure they do.”
It’s not clear whether Hegseth is expected to address reducing the general and admiral positions in this meeting.
Some officials have raised other theories, like whether he will roll out the National Defense Strategy, released every four years, which details the priorities for the department. This year’s National Defense Strategy is expected to place a heavier emphasis than previous ones on defending the homeland with operations in U.S. Southern Command, like the recent strikes destroying boats of alleged drug smugglers, and in U.S. Northern Command at the southwest border.
The meeting also comes as Congress remains deadlocked over funding the government, teeing up a potential government shutdown on Oct. 1. If the government shuts down, paychecks for military personnel will be delayed, although they will still be required to report for duty.
