Good afternoon, Press Pass readers. It’s been a busy two weeks on Capitol Hill since Election Day. Hell, as I was finishing this very newsletter, Matt Gaetz announced he was withdrawing as Donald Trump’s AG nominee. At The Bulwark, we’re on a mission to keep your head on straight and help you understand the Trump administration as it takes shape. If you want reporting and analysis free of distractions and spin, sign up for a Bulwark+ subscription at the link below. Today’s edition takes you into what could become one of the first military firings of an upcoming Trump administration. Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, in his book, singled out Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the current chief of naval operations, as someone he believes reached the summit of her career only because of her gender. I caught up with some senators on the Armed Services Committee who might be concerned that Hegseth and Trump would take action against women in the military, including Franchetti. Next, the famously quiet House Ethics Committee is falling apart over the decision not to release their findings on Matt Gaetz’s alleged sex crimes and improprieties. It may prove moot now that Gaetz has withdrawn, but many believed it was a deliberate attempt to shield the ex-congressman. Lastly, a group of Democrats embarked on a last-minute push to get Biden to grant clemency and follow through on his 2020 campaign promise to end the death penalty. All that and more, below. Pete Hegseth’s Enemies List Includes Historic Navy AdmiralPlus: The House Ethics Committee is bursting at the seams.
ADM. LISA FRANCHETTI MADE HISTORY last year when the Senate confirmed her to be chief of naval operations, the senior-most officer in the Navy. It made her the first woman ever on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But her position might soon be in jeopardy. Donald Trump’s team is reportedly crafting a list of top Pentagon officers to fire. Why Franchetti would be on that list is fairly clear: Pete Hegseth, the veteran and Fox News anchor nominated to serve as secretary of defense, has explicitly mentioned her as someone he views as detrimental to the American military. In his book, The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, Hegseth took aim at Franchetti for several reasons. First, was that she had no combat experience.¹ Second was that she got her masters degree from the University of Phoenix online—a criticism, we should note, that is at odds with his routine bashing of elite universities (despite having received degrees from both Princeton and Harvard himself). Third, Hegseth expressed dismay that Franchetti was vice chief of naval operations prior to her current role, which he notes “has almost never gone to the vice-chief in decades; rather they promote the freshest commander.” That isn’t the whole story, though. When then-Vice CNO Adm. Bill Moran was nominated and confirmed for the top job in 2019, he abruptly resigned after a scandal involving inappropriate behavior with female colleagues. He did so before ever taking the reins on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Michael Gilday, then a three-star admiral, took his place because the flag officer bench was so severely depleted by the “Fat Leonard” corruption scandal.² Tradition aside, it’s the president’s prerogative to nominate whichever officer he thinks can best do the job. Trump passed over Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein for chairman of the Joint Chiefs in favor of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley. In doing so, he ignored the recommendations of the secretary of defense. If Trump can buck tradition, so can Biden. Hegseth’s primary concern, however, is that Franchetti is a woman:
I spoke to several members of the Senate Armed Services Committee about this passage in Hegseth’s book, their personal experience with Franchetti since her promotion, and whether they were concerned that she would be given the boot in the Trump administration... Join The Bulwark to unlock the rest.Become a paying member of The Bulwark to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content. A subscription gets you:
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Pete Hegseth’s Enemies List Includes Historic Navy Admiral
November 21, 2024
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