Rubio urges Biden to fire Gen. Milley for attempting to undermine Trump after Jan. 6 riot

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) responded to revelations about Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley's reaction to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot by calling on President Biden to "immediately" dismiss him from his post.
Journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa report in their forthcoming book Peril that Milley called his counterpart in China, Gen. Li Zuocheng, two days after the riot to assure him that former President Donald Trump had no plans to attack China as a way to retain power ahead of President Biden's inauguration. Milley also called a meeting with top military commanders, insisting that no one take orders regarding a nuclear strike unless he was involved, even though the president has authority over the matter.
Rubio clearly does not hold the view that Milley was providing an important check against a possibly "rogue" president. Instead, he warned that his reported conversations with Beijing may have undermined Washington's ability to negotiate. As for the nuclear strike talks, Rubio said such interference "at worst, would cause ambiguity which could lead to war." All told, the senator believes Milley set a "dangerous" precedent.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
While it's unclear if others will call for Milley's dismissal, Rubio wasn't alone in his criticism, and, although the reasoning varies, there's a sense among some analysts that what he did was "reckless."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
June 1 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's golden comb-over, brain drain in America, and a new TACO presidential seal.
-
5 cartoons about the TACO trade
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on America's tariffs, Vladimir Putin waiting for taco Tuesday, and a new presidential seal
-
A city of culture in the high Andes
The Week Recommends Cuenca is a must-visit for those keen to see the 'real Ecuador'
-
The Biden cover-up: a 'near-treasonous' conspiracy
Talking Point Using 'Trumpian' tactics, the former president's inner circle maintained a conspiracy of silence around his cognitive and physical decline
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media