Trump fires Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. CQ Brown Jr.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Friday.

The cut sidelined a history-making fighter pilot and respected officer as part of a campaign to rid the military of leaders who support diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Gen. CQ Brown Jr. ousted

Brown’s 16 months on the job had been consumed with the war in Ukraine and the expanded conflict in the Middle East.

The role of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs was established in 1949 as an adviser to the president and secretary of defense, as a way to filter all of the views of the service chiefs and more readily provide that information to the White House without the president having to reach out to each individual military branch, according to an Atlantic Council briefing written by retired Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro. The role has no actual command authority.

What they're saying:

"I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family," Trump posted on social media.

The backstory:

Brown was overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate with a vote of 98-0.

It had been 30 years since Colin Powell became the first Black chairman, serving from 1989 to 1993. But while African Americans made up 17.2% of the 1.3 million active-duty service members, only 9% of officers were Black, according to a 2021 Defense Department report. 

Brown’s service as chairman made history in that this was the first time that both the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, and the Joint Chiefs chairman were Black.

George Floyd murder

Big picture view:

Just before his Senate confirmation vote in June 2020 to become chief of the Air Force, Brown gained some attention when he spoke out on the police killing of George Floyd the month before.

As protests roiled the nation, Brown posted a video message to the Air Force titled, "Here’s What I’m Thinking About." He described the pressures that came with being one of the few Black men in his unit. He recalled pushing himself "to perform error-free" as a pilot and officer his whole life, but still facing bias. He said he’d been questioned about his credentials, even when he wore the same flight suit and wings as every other pilot.

As chairman, he pushed the same campaign he had when leading the Air Force — that the Pentagon must accelerate its ability to change or it would lose future wars.

Trump’s soon-to-be new nominee

What’s next: Trump says he is nominating Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine to be the next chairman. Caine is a career F-16 pilot who served on active duty and in the National Guard and had most recently served as the associate director for military affairs at the CIA, according to his official military biography.

Dig deeper:

Caine’s military service includes combat roles in Iraq, special operations postings and positions inside some of the Pentagon’s most classified special access programs. However, it does not include key assignments that were identified in law as prerequisites for the job, with an exemption for the president to waive them if necessary in times of national interest.

2 more senior officers fired

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a statement praising both Caine and Brown, announced the firings of two additional senior officers: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Jim Slife.