U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California called for the removal of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, answering reporting that the Pentagon chief plans to cut as many as one in five general and flag officer positions with a post on X that left little room for interpretation.
The post, published at 11:00 AM on Oct. 7, 2026, read in its entirety:
“Irresponsible. Hegseth needs to go.”
The two-sentence message was a direct response to a Washington Post report that Hegseth is expected to announce a deeper reduction in the number of generals and admirals, by as much as 20 percent. The comment adds a sitting Democratic senator to a long list of lawmakers who have demanded the defense secretary’s exit, and it lands as the United States remains engaged in a war with Iran that has stretched on since February.
The Reporting Behind the Post
The Washington Post report, published Sept. 29, said officials told the newspaper that Hegseth is expected to reduce the total number of general and flag officer positions by as much as 20 percent. The reporting said the potential cuts could affect the careers of hundreds of current and rising military leaders.
That would follow what the report described as scores of firings and denied promotions Hegseth has directed since becoming President Donald Trump’s defense secretary in January 2025. It also noted that former top defense officials, congressional Democrats and some Republicans have argued that his purge of senior officers and his structural changes are politically motivated and threaten lasting harm to the force.
What Hegseth Plans to Announce
Reuters reported the same day that two U.S. officials said Hegseth would announce a 20% cut in billets for one- to four-star generals and admirals during a speech to hundreds of junior officers and enlisted personnel at Quantico, Virginia. According to Reuters, that is an increase from the minimum 10% cut he laid out last year.
One of the officials told Reuters that, rather than firing people, the rank of some future jobs would change while other billets would be canceled. Reuters also noted that Hegseth has removed several senior commanders since taking office, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in April.
A Campaign Years in the Making
The latest cuts build on a campaign Hegseth began early in his tenure. In October 2025, Reuters reported that he ordered a 20% reduction in the number of four-star officers, along with a minimum 20% cut in National Guard general officers and an additional 10% reduction among general and flag officers across the military. In a video posted on X at the time, Hegseth said, “More generals and admirals does not lead to more success.”
Reuters reported that the move deepened cuts that had shaken the Department of Defense at the start of Trump’s second term, and noted that Hegseth had long been vocal about his view that the military’s senior-most ranks were too large.
Padilla’s Position on the Iran War
Padilla’s criticism of the administration’s military posture did not begin Wednesday. After Senate Republicans blocked a war powers resolution he cosponsored in early March, designed to end U.S. military involvement against Iran unless explicitly authorized by Congress, Padilla issued a statement through his official Senate office accusing the president of launching the war illegally.
“Donald Trump, who campaigned on ending ‘endless’ wars, has now illegally launched one without Congressional authorization,” Padilla said. He added that “with each passing day, President Trump and his Administration change their justification for this war and have failed to provide credible evidence of any imminent threat against the United States.”
“Act Now, Plan Later”
In the same statement, Padilla described the Iran campaign as “another haphazard, ‘act now, plan later’ mission carried out with no clear plan for what comes next, who comes next, or how this Administration will protect the American people from retaliation.” He said the resolution was “a first attempt toward getting the answers that the American people deserve,” and that Republicans “once again chose to surrender Congressional authority to the president.”
Padilla also warned that Americans “want lower costs — not another forever war they will be forced to pay for at the gas pump and through rising energy bills.” At the time of the statement, he noted, the conflict had already cost the lives of at least six service members.
The Vote That Divided the Senate
The war powers resolution failed 47-53. The vote fell mostly along party lines, with Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voting in favor and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voting against.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer framed the vote as a test before it was held. “Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?” Schumer asked on the Senate floor.
Los Angeles and an Earlier Clash With Hegseth
Padilla’s history with Hegseth’s Pentagon extends to the deployment of troops on American soil. In June 2025, the administration sent National Guard members and 700 active-duty Marines to Los Angeles during protests over immigration raids. Padilla later led the entire Senate Democratic Caucus in demanding that Trump immediately withdraw all military forces from the city and cease threats to deploy troops to American cities.
When a federal judge later ruled that Trump and Hegseth violated federal law through the deployment, Padilla said in an official statement: “Today, a federal judge confirmed what we knew all along: Trump broke the law in his effort to turn service members into his own national police force.” He added that “our service members don’t sign up to serve as political props.”
Handcuffed at the Noem Press Conference
The deployment came the same week Padilla himself became a national story. On June 12, 2025, federal agents removed him from a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles. Video showed agents grabbing the senator and pushing him out of a door, and a second video showed him later being pushed to the floor and handcuffed.
The episode drew an immediate response from Democrats on the Senate floor. Hegseth, who was testifying on Capitol Hill that same week, defended the Los Angeles deployment, telling lawmakers, “We ought to be able to enforce immigration law in this country.”
Other Lawmakers Have Called for Hegseth to Go
Padilla joins a long line of Democrats who have demanded the defense secretary’s departure. After the Defense Department Inspector General reported in December 2025 that Hegseth risked endangering American troops when he communicated war plans over Signal, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said in an official statement that “for the sake of our nation and troops, he should resign.”
Gillibrand said then that she had opposed his confirmation “because I knew he was manifestly unfit to lead our armed forces.” House members including Reps. Josh Gottheimer, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Johnny Olszewski have likewise issued statements demanding that Hegseth step down.
Hegseth’s Message to Generals
Hegseth has defended his approach to the senior ranks. In a speech last year at Quantico before generals and admirals summoned from around the world, he criticized what he called “fat generals” and diversity initiatives, and defended his removal of senior officers. “If the words I’m speaking today are making your hearts sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign,” Hegseth told the assembled officers, according to Reuters.
The speech set the tone for a tenure defined by rapid changes at the top of the military, and the latest planned cuts have been described by officials as a continuation of that effort.
What Comes Next
Padilla’s post offered no additional detail on what prompted the language beyond the Washington Post reporting it answered, and no formal resolution calling for Hegseth’s removal was cited in the post. A message to the Pentagon seeking comment was not part of the information available for this article.
For now, the senator’s four-word demand, paired with the word “irresponsible,” stands as the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between California’s senior Democrat in the Senate and the Pentagon leadership, as the cuts to the military’s top ranks and the war in Iran continue to shape the debate on Capitol Hill.