What happened
President Donald Trump began the weekend by firing top military leaders including Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and ended it by announcing he was appointing right-wing pundit and podcaster Dan Bongino as deputy director of the FBI. Trump said he would nominate retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine as the next joint chiefs chair.
Who said what
Trump's "Friday night purge" of Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the top lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force and other senior officers thrust the Pentagon "into uncharted territory," The Washington Post said. Critics warned of the "encroachment of political warfare on an organization bound by the Constitution to remain nonpartisan."
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended Trump's Pentagon firings on "Fox News Sunday," saying other presidents had also fired generals and Trump "deserves to pick his key national security advisory team." Asked about Georgetown Law professor Rosa Brooks' post on X that firing "any lawyers who might try to slow you down" is what you do when "you're planning to break the law," Hegseth said he wanted military "lawyers who give sound constitutional advice and don't exist to attempt to be roadblocks to anything."
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.
What next?
Appointing Bongino as No. 2 to FBI Director Kash Patel puts "two steadfast Trump loyalists" who "have never served as FBI agents" in charge of the nation's premier law enforcement agency, The New York Times said. They will be the "least experienced leadership pair" in bureau history. Patel was also "expected to be sworn in early this week as the acting director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives," the Post said.
-
Conservative megadonors build a new bank thanks to Trump administration approvalIN THE SPOTLIGHT With a Lord Of The Rings-inspired name, and the backing of some of the biggest GOP financiers around, Erebor Bank is set to make major waves in the crypto world
-
Political cartoons for October 20Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include a $40 billion bailout for Argentina, Prince Andrew's titles, chaos at the CDC, and more
-
From Da Vinci to a golden toilet: a history of museum heistsIn the Spotlight Following the ‘spectacular’ events at the Louvre, museums are ‘increasingly being targeted by criminal gangs’
-
Conservative megadonors build a new bank thanks to Trump administration approval
IN THE SPOTLIGHT With a Lord Of The Rings-inspired name, and the backing of some of the biggest GOP financiers around, Erebor Bank is set to make major waves in the crypto world
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified filesSpeed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DCSpeed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operationsSpeed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
-
‘The illusion of wealth can encourage people to take on more debt’instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Pentagon reporters turn in badges after refusing rulesSpeed Read They refused to sign a restrictive new press policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
-
Supreme Court points to gutting Voting Rights Actspeed read States would no longer be required to consider race when drawing congressional maps
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in VenezuelaSpeed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country
