Exclusive: Three-star general pushed out amid tensions with Hegseth

By Natasha Bertrand, Zachary Cohen, Haley Britzky, CNN

(CNN) — A three-star general serving on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff has been pushed out of his position following months of sustained tensions with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to people familiar with the matter. The general’s stalled promotion also contributed to his early retirement, the sources said.

Lt. Gen. Joe McGee, the director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy on the Joint Staff, left his position earlier this month, the sources said. They added that McGee had frequently “pushed back” against Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine on issues ranging from Russia and Ukraine to military operations in the Caribbean. The sources noted that McGee was nominated by former President Joe Biden nearly a year ago for a promotion to serve as director of the Joint Staff but was never renominated by the current administration.

McGee’s primary responsibility in the role was to advise Caine on long-term military strategy including weighing the risks of potential actions and planning for crisis contingencies.

“He has had a target on his back for a while now,” one of the sources said of McGee. Two other sources said there were discussions internally as far back as the spring about pushing out McGee.

Caine and Hegseth also got frustrated with McGee at times because they believed he moved too slowly, one of the sources said.

At the same time, some in the Office of the Secretary of Defense saw McGee as too close to the “old guard” of the Pentagon, particularly former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley and former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, one of the sources said.

McGee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that “General McGee is retiring, and the war department is grateful for his service.” He denied CNN reporting that Hegseth and McGee had clashed.

“Lt Gen. JP McGee will retire after nearly three years of outstanding leadership and service on the Joint Staff. We are grateful for his 35 years of honorable and dedicated service to the Nation,” a Joint Staff spokesperson told CNN. “We owe him a great debt for his service and it is regrettable anonymous sources would put the focus anywhere else.”

Hegseth has pushed out more than a dozen senior military officials since taking office in January, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs CQ Brown, the Chief of Naval Operations, the directors of the National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency, and the top uniformed lawyers for the Army and Air Force.

All were suspected of being insufficiently aligned with Hegseth’s agenda, CNN has reported.

Some of the senior military officials, including the former director of the Joint Staff Lt. Gen. Doug Sims and the commander of US Southern Command Adm. Alvin Holsey, have been allowed to retire, CNN has reported.

Earlier this month, Holsey offered to resign amid stark disagreements with Hegseth and Caine over the legality of the US military’s strikes on suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean, CNN has reported. Like with McGee, Hegseth had been frustrated that Holsey tended to move too slowly and saw him as an obstacle, according to sources. Holsey announced on October 16 that he would be retiring in December, just one year into the job.

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