Kaine says guardrails on Pentagon firings could see bipartisan support in Congress

Source: CBS News

June 28, 2026 / 1:09 PM EDT / CBS News


Washington — Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Sunday that following a string of high-level officers exiting the military during the second Trump administration, guardrails on Pentagon firings could see bipartisan support in Congress.

The departure of some senior military officers in recent months has sparked questions about changes at the Pentagon. Retired Admiral Bill McRaven, known for commanding the raid to take out Osama bin Laden, wrote in The Atlantic last week that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's firings "raise a real risk that senior officers will be overly cautious about providing their best advice and, therefore, that the chance for military miscalculation will grow dramatically."

"I don't think that concern is misplaced. We're worried about the same thing," Kaine responded on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Kaine, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned whether Hegseth is "pushing out the truth tellers" to surround himself with "yes men." He added that "it looks like the secretary is coming down hardest on the Army."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tim-kaine-pentagon-firings-congress-guardrails-chris-donahue/