‘Petty middle-school drama’: Fears of firings permeate through Pentagon after high-profile ousters

NewsWorldAmericasUS politics‘Petty middle-school drama’: Fears of firings permeate through Pentagon after high-profile ousters‘There's a lot of confusion and head-shaking,’ an administration official saidBrendan Rascius in New York Friday 24 April 2026 21:33 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2964633","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pentagon-firing-fear-hegseth-phelan-b2964633.html","title":"Fears of firings permeate through Pentagon after high-profile ousters"}}CloseHegseth says Iran war is Trump's 'gift to the world'Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSection":"US politics","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"},"isClimate":false}After several high-profile firings at the...