Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth abruptly fired the Navy’s chief of staff over the weekend in his latest purge of top brass.
Hegseth on Friday canned Jon Harrison, who had amassed more influence than his predecessors and introduced significant changes at the Pentagon, including seeking to limit the influence of the undersecretary.
The Pentagon confirmed Harrison’s departure in a statement to Politico, simply stating, “He will no longer serve as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Navy. We are grateful for his service to the Department.”
Harrison was appointed to the role by President Donald Trump, and had collaborated with Navy Secretary John Phelan in introducing substantial changes in an attempt to streamline the Navy’s policy and budgeting offices.
The pair had also reassigned aides who would have assisted the Navy’s newly confirmed Undersecretary Hung Cao. They were planning to interview all of Cao’s future assistants to ensure that decisions were controlled by the secretary.
Prior to the chief of staff role, Harrison was appointed by Trump as chairman of the United States Arctic Research Commission in 2020, holding the role until 2021.
Harrison’s firing is the latest in a long line of dramatic changes at the Pentagon. In August, Hegseth fired a senior official whose report on U.S. airstrikes on Iran allegedly angered Trump.
Hegseth has also lost several aides this year, including some who were dismissed after their ties to the Signalgate scandal came to light.
The defense secretary also fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shortly after Trump’s inauguration, installing a Trump-supporting Air Force Lieutenant in his place. Other fired military officials include the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Coast Guard.
The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The shake-up follows reports that the defense secretary—who insists on being called “Secretary of War”—has grown increasingly “manic,” lashing out in fits of rage and chaotic tirades, according to staffers speaking to the Daily Mail.
Hegseth raised eyebrows last week for summoning top military leaders to D.C. only to deliver a highly unorthodox speech in which he rambled about men with beards, fat generals, and “dudes in dresses.”
His department is also exploring “random polygraph tests” to curb a slew of leaks that have embarrassed him, sources tell The Washington Post. The dramatic step has led some critics to refer to Hegseth as “Paranoid Pete.”
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