Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday directed the active duty military to shed 20 per cent of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration keep pushing the services to streamline their top leadership positions.

Hegseth also told the National Guard to shed 20% of its top positions.

In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership.”

On top of the cuts to the top-tier four-star generals, Hegseth has also directed the military to shed an additional 10% of its general and flag officers across the force, which could include any one-star or above or equivalent Navy rank.

Hegseth said the cuts aimed to free the military from “unnecessary bureaucratic layers.”

The news of the cuts was first reported by CNN.