A three-star general who held a position on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff left the War Department earlier this month due to “sustained” tensions with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine, reported CNN.
Lt. Gen. Joe McGee, the director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, repeatedly “pushed back” against Hegseth and Caine on several issues, including the Russia-Ukraine war and recent airstrikes in the Caribbean, where the U.S. military has targeted vessels U.S. officials say are linked to drug trafficking operations.
“He has had a target on his back for a while now,” a source told CNN of McGee.
Two other sources said Hegseth sometimes grew frustrated with McGee, believing he was moving too slowly.
McGee was nominated to be the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff but was never renominated during the current administration, according to CNN.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that “General McGee is retiring, and the War Department is grateful for his service.”
Parnell denied that McGee and Hegseth clashed.
A Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson told CNN that 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,” the person added. “We owe him a great debt for his service, and it is regrettable anonymous sources would put the focus anywhere else.”
Hegseth has fired or forced the retirements of numerous senior military officials during his tenure, including the Navy’s top officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer, Lt. Gen. Joseph Berger III, Rear Adm. Lia M. Reynolds, Navy chief of staff Jon Harrison, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Charles Q. Brown.
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