Tuesday: Hegseth's Brass Cut Burns His Own Side

Rush LindellTwenty percent. One in five generals and admirals gone. Pete Hegseth walked up to the Pentagon's top-heavy brass and said, "You're all fired, or a fifth of you are." I love it already.

ReaganYou love it already. Rush, you haven't read the fine print.

Rush LindellI don't need fine print. I need results.

ReaganMm-hmm.

Rush LindellWelcome to the show. I'm Rush Limbaugh, and that's Reagan, who is currently raising one eyebrow at me.

ReaganBoth, actually. Cutting the brass can be smart, but some Republican senators say they heard about it the same time as everyone else, including a committee chairman.

Rush LindellOh, boo-hoo, somebody's feelings got bruised.

ReaganNot feelings, oversight. That's their job.

Rush LindellShake-up.

ReaganOr purge.

Rush LindellHere's the deal, listener. We both want a Pentagon that works. We just disagree on whether you fire first and explain later.

ReaganI'd like the explanation to come before the pink slips. That's all.

Rush LindellWe'll see who's right, but first, this show is brought to you by Lear Capital.

ReaganHold on. You're taking an ad break before I win?

Rush LindellBumper cue. Then the facts, Reagan. What did Hegseth actually announce? Okay, the speech itself. October 1, Quantico, the State of the Force. And the math gets cute, Reagan.

ReaganCute how?

Rush LindellTwenty percent sounds like one big swing. CP24's write-up says it's two swings. About 10% of the generals and admirals fired outright, then another 10% of general officer slots just erased.

ReaganSo one bucket is people, one bucket is chairs.

Rush LindellExactly. Fire the man, then burn the chair so nobody sits in it again. It's efficient, I'll give him that.

ReaganAnd he knew what the word on the street was. Per that same coverage, he said the media calls it a purge, and he calls it accountability.

Rush LindellWhich is my entire position, in his mouth. I'm thrilled.

ReaganHold on. Calling it accountability doesn't make it accountability. Accountability for what specifically? He didn't hand anyone a charge sheet in that line.

Rush LindellOh, here she goes.

ReaganI'm asking. The other detail matters more to me. The coverage says the cut is partly already done. Not planned, done.

Rush LindellWow. So the pink slips went out before the speech.

ReaganSome of them, apparently. Now CNN has the harder numbers. It reports about 170 general and admiral slots due by January 1st.

Rush LindellJanuary 1st? That's a few months.

ReaganThat's a tight clock. A cut that size by that date means somebody has to decide who goes and by what standard pretty soon. The speech, at least in this coverage, doesn't tell us what that standard is.

Rush LindellOr it means the secretary wants it finished before anybody organizes a counterattack. Speed is a feature, Reagan. Washington dies of committee meetings.

ReaganAnd CNN says that doubles the 10% target from Hegseth's own May 2025 memo.

Rush LindellDoubles it. See, that's a man who finishes the job and then keeps going.

ReaganOr a man who set a target in May and blew past it without telling anyone why. Both can be true.

Rush LindellFine. You get a point for that one.

ReaganCNN also talked to retired officers. Retired Brigadier General Ty Seidule says Hegseth is making the next generation of leaders political.

Rush LindellOf course, a retired general says that. Dog bites man.

ReaganSure, but that's the critique with teeth. Who gets to stay and who decides?

Rush LindellAnd I'll tell you who's really asking that today. Not retired generals, senators. His own side's senators.

ReaganMm. The ones who say nobody picked up the phone.

Rush LindellBumper cue. Let's go find out who was supposed to call.

ReaganOkay, the senators. Wicker, Collins, Ernst, Tillis. The creators' brief says all four told people they were blindsided. Those are not Democrats looking for a microphone.

Rush LindellOh, man. Four Republicans? Hold on. Which four? Because that's the committee room crowd.

ReaganExactly. And the question I keep asking is simple: Why does a chairman like Wicker learn about this the same week as everybody else?

Rush LindellMaybe the memo got lost in the mail.

ReaganRush.

Rush LindellI'm kidding, sort of.

ReaganThe Hill ran a piece on October 5 with the headline, "GOP Senators Blindsided by Hegseth Demand Notice, Transparency." Republican senators voiced concern over the plan, and the word they keep reaching for is notice.

Rush LindellNotice. Not a veto, notice.

ReaganFair. They're asking to be told not to run the Pentagon. But I'd say being told is the whole job of oversight.

Rush LindellHmm.

ReaganHmm is right. Think about what notice buys a senator. It buys time to ask questions while a decision can still change, not after the announcement.

Rush LindellOr it buys time for every lobbyist in town to get a speech ready. Notice cuts both ways.

ReaganAnd The Hill had an earlier story from October 1st. Its headline said senators gave a cold shoulder to the plan. Cold shoulder from his own side.

Rush LindellCold shoulder is a polite phrase for a lot of grumbling in hallways. I've heard senators grumble about a sandwich order.

ReaganSure. But then there's the Yahoo piece by Brendan Rascius. He reports the cuts have raised bipartisan concerns that seasoned officers, including women and people of color, are being sidelined for ideological reasons.

Rush LindellWait, bipartisan. Say that part slower.

ReaganBipartisan concerns. That's the reporter's framing, and it's about who gets sidelined and why.

Rush LindellAnd I'll say this flat out, if a general is good, he survives a thinning. If a general is there because of a political favor, I don't care what color or sex he is, out.

ReaganI'd concede that, but you've just made my point. How do we know which is which if nobody has explained the choices?

Rush LindellUgh. Oh, that's annoying. That's a good argument, and I hate it.

ReaganI'll put that on a mug.

Rush LindellFine, but hear me out, because the other side of this has a case, and I'm about to make it. Bumper queue, I'm taking the floor, and I'm defending the shake-up.

ReaganGo ahead. I'll bring snacks.

Rush LindellReagan, I'll say it plain. The brass needed a shakeup. Years of the same faces, the same briefings, the same excuses, and now the Senate clutches its pearls?

ReaganYou think the senators are upset about the policy.

Rush LindellI think they're upset about the parking spots. Turf, Reagan. Every general you cut is a favorite son some committee had lunch with. Hold on, I'm just getting warmed up.

ReaganOkay, fair point, and I'll give it to you. Senators do protect their own, and any Pentagon trim is going to hit somebody's friend.

Rush LindellThank you.

ReaganBut a concession isn't a case. Make me the affirmative argument. Why does the brass need shrinking, beyond senators being annoyed?

Rush LindellBecause a top-heavy organization protects itself. More stars means more layers. More layers means more meetings, and every meeting is a place where a bad idea can sit comfortably. That's my opinion, and I'm not apologizing for it.

ReaganThat's a real argument, and it's the strongest version of yours. Fewer layers can mean faster decisions. But a layer is only dead weight if the person in it is, and slots cut are not the same as bad officers cut.

Rush LindellThen here's my second one: promotion. If you know a star is waiting at the end of the line, you play it safe your whole career. Shrink the number of stars, and maybe the people who want them start acting like leaders instead of survivors.

ReaganOr they act like people who never disagree with the boss, which is the opposite of what you want in a war room. I can't prove that's what happens. Neither can you.

Rush LindellWell, somebody's already worried about exactly that.

ReaganSeidule's warning from earlier about making the next generation of leaders political is the part that keeps me up if promotions start to look like loyalty tests.

Rush LindellOr the old promotion system was already political, and nobody minded when it favored the other team.

ReaganMaybe. I can't prove that, and neither can you. Nobody has shown us who was cut or why.

Rush LindellWhich is why I'm sure I'm right.

ReaganOf course you are.

Rush LindellLook, I'll grant you this much. If the shake-up is right, it survives daylight. If it's wrong, it hides.

ReaganThen let's see the daylight.

Rush LindellWe will, right after the bumper, a little parody, a quick word from our sponsor, and then the bill for the war.

ReaganOwe the bill. Bring a calculator.

Rush LindellOkay, parody time. Clearly labeled, folks. This is satire. No real person said any of this. I give you Operation Brass Diet, the Pentagon's new wellness plan. Trim the generals, keep the dessert budget.

ReaganOh, no.

Rush LindellAdmirals on the scale, one by one. Step on, sir. Step off, sir. Congratulations, you've lost a star.

ReaganWow. Medical science was not consulted.

Rush LindellNobody was consulted. That's the joke and also the story. Okay, parody's over. Now a real word from a real sponsor. My friends at Lear Capital are doing something I've never seen before. They're selling a one-ounce silver American Eagle below spot price. That's right, below what silver is actually trading for right now, and Lear is covering the shipping and taxes.

ReaganWait, below spot? Hold on.

Rush LindellHere's what you need to know. Priced below spot. Lear is selling this at a loss to get silver in your hands. Limit one per person, new customers only. Free shipping, fully insured by Lear, and this is a 24-hour offer only.

ReaganI do like a tangible asset. Explain the rarity.

Rush LindellJust so you understand how rare this is, spot price doesn't include the cost to mint the coin, ship it, or any dealer overhead. Buying at spot is already a deal. Buying below spot almost never happens.

ReaganAnd it's not some obscure piece.

Rush LindellRight. The Silver American Eagle is one of the most recognizable and sought-after coins in the world, backed by the US government for weight and purity. One ounce of .999 fine silver, IRA-eligible, a tangible asset you can hold in your hand.

ReaganNoted. The details are on the site, and the clock apparently is already ticking.

Rush LindellGo to www.rushcoinoffer.com right now. This is a 24-hour offer. The URL goes dark after that, and when it's gone, it's gone. That's www.rushcoinoffer.com.

ReaganOkay, sponsor read over. Back to the war, which has a price tag nobody agrees on. NBC News laid out the competing numbers.

Rush LindellGo ahead. Hit me.

ReaganHegseth said $37.5 billion.

Rush LindellOkay.

ReaganThe Pentagon's inspector general said about 33 billion as of June 30th.

Rush LindellDifferent date, so that's not apples to apples.

ReaganExactly. And the Congressional Budget Office said 38 billion. It also tied the war to higher inflation.

Rush LindellInflation. That's the one voters feel at the gas pump.

ReaganCareful, though. Tied it to higher inflation is a broad statement, and I wouldn't translate it into a number at your pump.

Rush LindellFair. Voters will do the translating for themselves.

ReaganAnd critics say every one of those undercounts. The sources and dates differ, so I wouldn't line them up like a scoreboard.

Rush LindellThree numbers, one stalemate. Bumper queue. Now the Republicans who've noticed. Rush here, and I'll say it plain. The party that started this war now has candidates running away from it. Mike Rogers, Michigan's Republican Senate nominee, dropped a campaign ad on X.

ReaganSaying what exactly?

Rush LindellThe Iran war has to end quickly so energy costs come down. The Hill reported it, and he also wants gas taxes suspended.

ReaganGas taxes. Not a foreign policy plank, a pump plank.

Rush LindellA pump plank. Fine, I'll take it, because that's where the war lands for a voter in Michigan, not at a briefing, at the station.

ReaganHmm. And he's not alone, supposedly. Daily Kos says Rogers and a trio of Iowa Republicans called for ending the war the same week.

Rush LindellDaily Kos. Hold on.

ReaganI know, left-leaning, so treat every adjective as opinion, but the claim is checkable, and they cite a Suffolk poll with Rogers seven points behind Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

Rush LindellSeven points. Oh, man, that'll focus a candidate.

ReaganThat's my question, Rush. Daily Kos argues Rogers cheered the war earlier. If that's right, is the pivot credible, or is it a man reading a poll?

Rush LindellBoth. Since when did a politician needing a reason make the reason fake? Gas prices are real. Voters feel them every week.

ReaganSure, but voters also remember who said what in the spring. You can't ask for trust in October on a position you didn't hold in May.

Rush LindellWait for it, though. Nobody votes on consistency. They vote on the receipt from the pump.

ReaganSome do both.

Rush LindellSome? Not enough to fill a statewide map.

ReaganMaybe not a whole map, but if a candidate really is trailing, the margin is exactly where consistency matters. A small slice of voters who feel played can be the whole race.

Rush LindellThen the cure is the same as always. Say the thing plainly and say it often. Voters forgive a change of mind a lot faster than they forgive a candidate who dodges the question.

ReaganHere's where I'd connect it. The Brass cut and the war bill are the same complaint. Senators heard about the cut late. Voters heard about the war costs late.

Rush LindellOh, that's good. Nobody told the chairman. Nobody told the customer.

ReaganRight. Trust.

Rush LindellWhich is why this stops being a Pentagon story. It's a story about whether anybody in this party will say the quiet part before a poll makes them.

ReaganAnd once a candidate says it, the other side asks what happens with the money.

Rush LindellBumper queue. Reagan put a Democratic Congress in charge of the checkbook, starting with that sixty-seven billion dollar request.

ReaganGladly. It's the number nobody on our side wants to say out loud.

Rush LindellOkay. The supplemental. Sixty-seven billion dollars. That's the Pentagon's ask. And NBC News reports Democratic senators are already demanding a breakdown of it.

ReaganAlready. Before a single vote.

Rush LindellBefore a single vote. They want the bare minimum, an itemized list. Honestly, that's not crazy.

ReaganIt isn't. And NBC describes the war as stalemated, which makes the ask harder because you're funding a fight with no visible finish line.

Rush LindellOh, man. And the same article says some Republicans share the frustration.

ReaganWhich loops back to the cost figures, though they come from different sources and dates, so I'd keep them apart.

Rush LindellApples, oranges, and a very large invoice.

ReaganPut that on the supplemental. Now, a Democratic Congress. Nobody has sourced a forecast here, so this is us guessing.

Rush LindellGuessing loudly. My guess, they don't cut the troops off. They hold the money hostage to hearings. Subpoenas, line items, every dollar on a witness table.

ReaganI'd say narrower. Strings on the money, not a cutoff. Voters who hate the war still don't want it to be the party that stranded soldiers.

Rush LindellFine. Strings. Lots of strings.

ReaganMm-hmm.

Rush LindellAnd here's the part that should worry our side. My guess is strings mean hearings, and hearings mean every question we've raised today gets asked on camera by people who'd love to ask it.

ReaganI'll grant you that, but hearings can also force answers, and an itemized breakdown of that sixty-seven billion is something even a Republican chairman might want. Asking where the money goes isn't a partisan idea, even if one party is the one asking loudest.

Rush LindellScorecard time. Damage to the Republican midterm map out of ten. I'm saying seven.

ReaganSeven?

Rush LindellWar with no end. A brass cut the Senate didn't see coming. Gas prices. Seven, and I'm being generous to my own side.

ReaganGenerous how?

Rush LindellBecause I'm not even counting what happens if the stalemate drags on.

ReaganI'm at four.

Rush LindellFour.

ReaganMidterms are about the economy and the president's approval. The brass cut is an inside the beltway story. The war matters, but candidates can still run away from it. We watched some try.

Rush LindellRunning away from your own war is a hard sprint.

ReaganHard, not impossible. Four.

Rush LindellYou're underrating the trust problem, Reagan, but that's the score. Seven to four.

ReaganWe'll see who's closer.

Rush LindellBumper queue. Verdict time, Reagan. Say it with me, one listener at a time. Accountability beats hurt feelings. A bloated Brass has had decades to earn its comfort, and a few senators got bruised. They'll live.

ReaganHmm.

Rush LindellWhat?

ReaganNothing. I just noticed you said a few senators about the people who write the defense bill.

Rush LindellFine. Keep going.

ReaganMy ruling is short. I can back a smaller Brass. I can't back a cut nobody has explained. Process isn't decoration, Rush. It's how you find out whether the right people went.

Rush LindellAnd if the right people went?

ReaganThen Hegseth wins an easy argument by showing his work. Nobody has seen the work.

Rush LindellOuch.

ReaganSo here's what I'm watching. CNN's piece on the speech says the cut is about one hundred and seventy slots due by Jan one. That date is the test.

Rush LindellBecause the names show up.

ReaganNames, criteria, and whether the Senate's demands for notice and transparency get answered before the paperwork lands.

Rush LindellAnd what would a clean list look like to you?

ReaganWho went, why they went, and whether those reasons were applied the same way across the ranks. If it's all three, I'll say so on this show. If it's thin, I'll say that too.

Rush LindellOh man, I'll say it. If he hands over a clean list, I look like a genius.

ReaganAnd if he doesn't?

Rush LindellThen I was talking about the idea, not the execution. Very different shows.

ReaganConvenient.

Rush LindellThat's my brand. Hit the music, we're outta road. Reagan, one sentence each. Mine's easy. Shake up the Brass and do it loudly.

ReaganMine takes a few more words, Rush. Shrink the Brass if you can prove why, and tell the Chairman before you tell the cameras.

Rush LindellA few more words. Shocking.

ReaganI'm consistent.

Rush LindellYou are. And I'll give you this, if the list of who got cut ever shows up, I'll read it on air, every name.

ReaganEvery criterion, too. Names without reasons is just a phone book.

Rush LindellOoh, that's good. I'm stealing it.

ReaganYou always do. Okay, listener, three small jobs. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one.

Rush LindellLeave us a five-star review, be kind or be accurate, preferably both.

ReaganAnd tell one friend, preferably the one who disagrees with you.

Rush LindellNew episodes land every weekday, same time, same fight, fresh coffee.

ReaganThanks for listening.

Rush LindellBefore we go, seven or four, Shake-Up or Purge, pick a side and defend it at the dinner table.

ReaganGently, with snacks.

Rush LindellNow hit the music. My terms, my Bumper.