By ELINA SHIRAZI, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is driving a major overhaul to pivot the US military away from Europe and the Middle East and refocus operations on the Western Hemisphere, sources indicate to the Washington Post. Top Pentagon leadership are finalizing a plan that would dramatically downgrade America’s military presence in traditional theaters while consolidating power closer to home marking a fundamental shift in US strategic priorities. The proposal would reduce US Central Command, US Africa Command and US European Command to subordinate status under a new umbrella organization called US International Command stripping these Middle Eastern and European-focused headquarters of their current four-star authority.
Simultaneously, the plan calls for merging US Southern Command and US Northern Command into a powerful new headquarters dubbed US Americas Command, or ‘Americom’ elevating the Western Hemisphere’s importance in the Pentagon’s hierarchy. If approved, the restructuring would trigger the first substantial shake-up of the military’s top brass in generations while slashing the number of four-star generals reporting directly to Hegseth. The initiative aligns with Trump’s national security strategy released this month declaring the ‘days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over.’
Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine is expected to present detailed plans to Hegseth in the coming days. Notably, the Senate and House Armed Services committees have not been briefed on the proposal breaking with the Pentagon’s traditional practice of coordinating major changes with congressional overseers. Altogether, the changes would significantly shrink the number of defense headquarters from 11 to eight, while also cutting down on the number of fourstar generals and admirals.
The surviving combatant commands would be the US Cyber Command, US Special Operations Command, US IndoPacific Command, US Space Command, US Strategic Command and US Transportation Command. Congress has reportedly mandated that the Pentagon produce a detailed blueprint outlining the potential costs of the realignment and its impact on US alliances with other countries. This requirement, embedded within the annual defense policy bill, would withhold funding for the proposal until at least 60 days after the necessary paperwork is submitted to lawmakers.
The defense policy bill has already cleared the House and is anticipated to pass the Senate later this week. ‘Time ain’t on our side, man,’ a senior defense official told the Washington Post. ‘The saying here is, ‘If not us, who, and if not now, when?’ The official also called the plan ‘urgent,’ saying there is ‘decay’ in how the military commands and leads troops. This comes as the Department of War struck three more alleged ‘narcoterror’ boats on Monday, killing eight more people.
Hegseth and his team have been under fire for their most recent ‘doubletap’ strike that killed two remaining survivors of a September 2 boat attack. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns over the strike and its legality, with some still demanding the Pentagon release the footage.
Hegseth indicated on Tuesday the full unedited video of the double-tap strikes will be shown to members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees later this week.Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Kelly have both said that if the reports are accurate, the double-tap action would constitute a ‘war crime’. President Trump has backed Hegseth, saying the secretary ‘did not order the death of those two men.’