On Saturday, Hot Air posted an article that explains why a lot of the Washington deep state would really like to get rid of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He has begun to drain the swamp. Of course when you drain the swamp, you expose some pretty unsavory animals.

The article reports:

Everyone who has been serving on Department of Defense advisory committees is to be thanked for their service and told that said service ‘is concluded‘ aka ‘out of a cushy post.’

The article includes a screenshot of the letter sent to the committee members.

The article continues:

Of course, there’s going to be all sorts of caterwauling about the move. But just like the programs that Biden initiated that now it seems Trump cannot undo, there is precedent for this as well.

While press releases call it a ‘tit-for-tat,’ they also acknowledge that lumpy Lloyd Austin removed every Trump appointee and then some serving on a committee from their chairs. 

We need to remember that last sentence when the media starts caterwauling.

The article notes:

…The Pentagon’s bloated advisory panels have ballooned to 41 groups—many duplicative or focused on political pet projects rather than warfighting readiness. Since 2021, these committees cost taxpayers over $220M annually while producing bureaucratic inertia. The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services alone burned $8.7M last fiscal year debating gender initiatives instead of lethality. 

Realigning resources means cutting dead weight—like Susan Rice’s seat pushing DEI dogma—to prioritize missile defense modernization and countering China’s naval expansion. The Department of Government Efficiency’s $160B savings blueprint proves real reform starts with axing non-essential programs. 

Advisory boards shouldn’t be retirement perks for political allies—they should deliver battlefield advantage.

…The Defense Policy Board (DPB) has always been packed with long-term D.C. establishment insiders and power brokers and was targeted by recently fired adviser Dan Caldwell, who accused it of being the source of the leaks for which he took the blame. Caldwell claimed that the board is chock to the brim with anti-Trump members who are resistant to any changes the president, and by extension his SecDef, wants made.

Maybe when this is all over, we can go back to winning wars. We haven’t won a war since World War II (with the exception of the invasion of Grenada).