Republican lawmakers increasingly concerned over Hegseth's ideological military

Conservatives are voicing criticisms after Hegseth unceremoniously fired a top military leader National Affairs Fellow Published May 1, 2026 6:00AM (EDT) Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth looks on during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of Defense budget request for Fiscal Year 2027 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 30, 2026. (Photo by Alex Wroblewski / AFP via Getty Images) Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sat for hearings with Congress this week to discuss his handling of the Iran war, along with fielding questions about the Trump administration’s controversial $1.5 trillion defense spending proposal for 2027. Meanwhile, his support among Republican lawmakers is wavering following his firings of numerous high-profile military leaders, which experts say is both concerning and unusual. Since becoming head of the Pentagon last year, Hegseth has overseen a dozen dismissals, retirements and reassignments among some of the highest positions in the U.S. military. Among them were the first female commandant of the Coast Guard, the head of the Army’s Chaplain Corps, and a four-star general overseeing the Army’s Transformation and Training Command. However, it was the recent firing of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in the middle of the