GOP’s Scott Torches Hegseth For General’s Firing Amid Trump’s Iran War: ‘Devastating Effect’ | US

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]Mr. Scott, you're recognized.

[00:00:02]>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And um General and Eve, I don't envy the position you're in. We had a brief time to talk over the last week or so, but um as you know, General George extremely well respected, well-liked by many of us. He and his wife Patty, 38 years of service to the country, specifically the United States Army. Um I've read all of the news reports about why he was dismissed, but I would like to hear from you. Um, why was General George dismissed?

[00:00:33]>> Sir, that's a question for Secretary Hedges.

[00:00:36]>> Okay.

[00:00:36]>> But I've I've been the vice for a couple months now. We honored the service of of General Fors and his wife, generals that were dismissed.

[00:00:44]>> Well, thank you for that. I would I would like for Secretary Hath to answer the reason of why why they were dismissed. And I think that the way uh General George and his wife Patty were treated will have a chilling effect on the way our our services operate in the future. Um prior to this, the Secretary of Defense removed four Army officers from the ' 07 list before their nomination left the DoD. Is that correct?

[00:01:15]>> Sir, I I think the the list is still moving forward. Um I mean our our process the process has been followed through. The army provided the list to the secretary's war's office and it has gone gone forward. Uh whether those officers have been split from the list um you know higher I'm not sure at this time. Um there's civilian oversight of the processor as you know. uh there's multiple checks as it goes and that you know as it goes from the White House to the Senate there's uh opportunities for multiple reasons for >> let me respect because I'm I'm I'm on a time clock here but my my understanding >> is that somewhere around 3% of colonels are selected to move forward to become general officers. Is that number at least approximately accurate?

[00:02:08]>> Yes sir. approximately after.

[00:02:10]>> So, of all of the colonels out there, they're selected by their peers and by their board. It's narrowed down to about 3% of the colonels that actually move forward to become a a general officer.

[00:02:19]>> Yes, sir.

[00:02:21]>> And the the open the reporting is that Secretary Haggath pulled in individually pulled four names from that list. I'm less worried about the race and the gender than if he did or he didn't do it. Did Did he pull four names from the list as has been reported?

[00:02:36]>> Sure. You'd have to ask Secretary Hedge that I >> Okay.

[00:02:39]>> I've been if I could if I could get anybody over there to respond, I I would I would ask him and I appreciate that. But I I would I I will say this, but I would like to know why those four if those four names were removed from the list. I would like to know why they were removed from the list. There may be a legitimate reason.

[00:02:56]Um let let me get get to why this is important. The military expects its officers to provide truthful and honest advice versus being yesmen to their leadership chain. Is that is that correct, gentlemen? Would all of you generals agree with me with that statement?

[00:03:13]>> Yes, sir.

[00:03:14]>> Yes, sir.

[00:03:15]>> Yes, sir.

[00:03:16]>> Yes, sir.

[00:03:17]If our top general officers are removed without justification from their positions for providing honest objective advice, which is something that I always knew General George to give, then I fear that it's going to have a trickle down effect that's going to be devastating to other officers and and especially how their spouses feel about continuing to spend their lives in service. This is a team sport.

[00:03:49]The officer and the spouse are in this together. And I think that that General George and and his wife Patty, I think they were very unfairly treated. And I would appreciate it if the Secretary of Defense would be forthcoming with whether or not four names were removed from the list. I'm less concerned about race and gender than I am why they were removed from the list. and if he has individually changed the way we're going to handle the promotion and the selection and promotion of our general officers in the military. Um I'll move to the Air Force real quick. I want I want to ask with regard to uh combat search and rescue the A-10 general has provided that uh has been a big part of that mission. what the Air Force plans to retire the A-10.

[00:04:34]Unfortunately, what is what is the Air Force doing to prepare for combat search and rescue when the A10 is retired?

[00:04:43]Congressman, it'll be a mix of platforms just like it's been a mix of platforms in the past with H860s and overhead uh folks doing that coordination role that the A10s have done very well over the years.

[00:04:56]>> And and correct me if I'm wrong, but an HH60 is a helicopter. Correct.

[00:05:00]for the CESAR. Yes. I thought you were talking about CESAR vice Cass. Yes, sir.

[00:05:11]>> Mr. Strickland, you're recognized.

[00:05:13]>> Thank you, Chairman Bergman, Ranking Member Gear Mendy, and thank you to all of our witnesses for your testimony today and your continued service. This hearing comes at a critical moment. US forces are not just preparing for conflict. They are actively engaged while continuing to meet global commitments across multiple theaters.

[00:05:32]The core question I have today is not whether the joint force can fight tonight. It is whether we can sustain operations, absorb losses, and regenerate combat power fast enough to remain ready for a large-scale conflict.

[00:05:46]So, I'm going to start with General Leniv. I want to discuss force allocation, health, and long-term readiness. General Leniv, the Army is deploying high demand systems like air defense systems across multiple theaters. Are these the same systems we would rely on in a large-scale conflict?

[00:06:05]>> Uh yes, ma'am.

[00:06:06]>> All right. And what risk does that create for our ability to respond to a second contingency?

[00:06:13]Ma'am, you know, uh my role as the vice is to man, train, equip, and uh certify and to build the force that COCOM uh commanders were utilized. We're supporting uh Admiral uh Cooper uh and team. If we have to surge to another location, then we'll uh we'll have to look at how we balance that to be able to provide the resources necessary. I appreciate the question.

[00:06:40]>> All right. This is about force health and long-term readiness. Now, General Naniv, are sustained operational demands impacting retention, family stability or overall force health in ways that could degrade readiness over time?

[00:06:55]>> Yeah, ma'am. Again, thank you for the question. We are uh not seeing a degradation in uh retention uh you know right now. Uh we will let you know if we if we see that uh over time. It's something that we look at. Um we continue uh to assess where the force is u but right now uh retention and recruiting is up.

[00:07:18]>> All right. Thank you. Now I'm going to go to General Lamontine to shift to aircraft capacity and the air force's role in sustaining operations. General, last year the Air Force testified it was operating the oldest and smallest fleet in history with elevated readiness risk.

[00:07:35]Since then, we've seen confirmed aircraft losses and additional battle damage. At an unclassified level, what concerns do you have that the Air Force has regarding its ability to maintain aircraft capacity and maintenance depth to sustain current operations while possibly preparing for a large-scale conflict?

[00:07:55]>> Congresswoman Strickland, thank you very much for the question. key issue for our United States Air Force as you outlined and as we've testified previously and so we are redoubling our efforts to invest in our ability to maintain the airplanes. Historically we've invested in our weapon system sustainment which is largely spare parts engineering and a lot of other things that supports that to about an 85% level. Last year it was an 86% level. So some improvement but not enough. This year's budget in 27 takes us to 93% an additional $3.2 billion to help us sustain those airplanes over time. Very important issue for your United States Air Force.

[00:08:35]>> Great. Thank you. And in closing, I want to just remind us that we're experiencing aircraft losses and damage, expanding munitions at high rates, operating within an industrial base that is constrained and placing sustained demand on the force itself. So really the question we should ask ourselves, are we maintaining readiness for a large-scale peer conflict or are we consuming the force faster than we can regenerate it? And to my colleague um Congressman Austin's question about what happened with General George um General George was in charge of first corps at Joint Base Lewis McCord when I was mayor of Tacoma. He and his wife have dedicated their lives to serving our country. And just to be clear, once the Secretary of Army clears an individual for promotion to general, the Secretary of Defense should not be removing them because their records have been highly vetted, highly scrutinized, and these people are qualified for the jobs. And we look forward to hearing an explanation from Secretary Hegsth when he meets with the full House Armed Services Committee on April 29th. I yield back.