In the 24 hours after President Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, three other top civilian leaders at the Pentagon quit or were ousted, replaced by Trump loyalists with controversial pasts. The "apparent purge" ushered in "hardcore MAGA-ites" at the top level of the Defense Department, Spencer Ackerman reports at The Daily Beast, and "it is currently unknown what mandate the new loyalists have at the Pentagon with over two months remaining in the Trump administration."
The lame-duck change in leadership has "put officials inside the Pentagon on edge and fueled a growing sense of alarm among military and civilian officials, who are concerned about what could come next," USA Today reports. "This is scary, it's very unsettling," one defense official told CNN. "These are dictator moves." Another senior defense official added "it appears we are done with the beheadings for now," at least at the Pentagon.
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