The Military Purge No One Can Ignore— Trump’s Unending War On The Rule of Law

Step One To A Dictatorship Is A Military Without Legal Oversight

Monday night, Rachel Maddow had former under Secretary of Defense and then Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on her show. As she was wrapping up, Kendall interjected that “It’s a scary time.” You would have guessed he felt that way had you read his powerful OpEd in the NY Times earlier in the day, America Has A Rogue President. “Trump’s decision to fire senior military leaders without cause,” wrote Kendall, “is foolish and a disgrace. It politicizes our professional military in a dangerous and debilitating way. What frightens me even more is the removal of three judge advocates general, the most senior uniformed legal authorities in the Defense Department. Their removal is one more element of this administration’s attack on the rule of law, and an especially disturbing part.”

The sheer recklessness of Trump’s decision cannot be understood outside of his myriad character flaws. His governing philosophy, if one can call it that, is rooted in grievance, vengeance and an obsessive need for personal loyalty over competence. This is not a president who respects institutions or laws; it is a man who views any check on his authority as an intolerable offense. His removal of top JAG officials fits a long-standing pattern— he seeks to purge anyone who might tell him “no.”

Joe Walsh, former GOP Illinois congressman, wrote yesterday that “Trump is a Russian asset.” And he wasn’t even talking about how he’s undermining the U.S. military. Kendall wrote that he’s not optimist about “the consequences of removing the military’s top judge advocates general, the senior military professionals who interpret and enforce the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the rules that guide troops in the field. They have the independent legal authority to tell any military commander or political appointee that an order from the president or the secretary of defense is unlawful, cannot be given and should not be obeyed.”

This is precisely why Trump removed them. If there is one defining feature of Trumpism, it is the utter lack of respect for legal constraints. Trump has been clear about his views. Among many examples, he recently wrote, “He who saves his country does not violate any law.” The implication is obvious: in his mind, the law is merely an inconvenience that should be set aside when it doesn’t serve his interests. That logic is textbook authoritarianism.

If there is one characteristic of this president and this administration, it is the utter lack of respect for legal constraints. Trump has been clear about his views. Among many examples, he recently wrote, “He who saves his country does not violate any law.” It is clear from Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, public appearances, writings and support for convicted war criminals that he also does not believe JAG officers should constrain war fighters— or presumably the president and secretary of defense.

Trump and Hegseth will now get to choose the JAG leadership for all three military departments. One has to ask why JAG leadership was singled out for replacement. This is part of a much larger pattern of disrespect, even disdain, for the rule of law. We do not need JAG leaders who fit this pattern.

One of the most admirable characteristics of the American military is that all serving members are trained to understand that America stands for more than naked self-interest. Above all, it stands up for the Constitution and the rule of law, including the laws of armed conflict and those that restrict the use of the military against American citizens. Undermining those core principles is a disservice to our men and women in uniform and to everything America has stood for throughout my life. We are in danger when the legal constraints on how the president uses the military, including within the United States, are ignored or brushed aside.

My experiences with our JAG officers have always been positive. One stands out in particular. Years ago, I was an observer for the nonprofit organization Human Rights First at a legal proceeding for a detainee held at the military facility at Guantánamo Bay. In a briefing to observers and the media, the lead JAG defense attorney made a statement to the following effect: Whoever set up this prosecution system assumed that there would be quick trials with no meaningful defense by the assigned JAG officers. Those people did not understand JAG lawyers. We will support the rule of law and defend our clients, whomever they are.

I have never been prouder to be an American than I was in that moment. We will see if the new JAG leadership lives up to this standard.

Our country is in uncharted territory. We have an administration that is waging war against the rule of law. The evidence is everywhere. We don’t yet know how far it will go as it seeks to control, reinterpret, rewrite, ignore or defy legal constraints, including the Constitution itself. The replacement of the military JAG leadership is one skirmish in that war, but it’s time for the American people, across the political spectrum, to recognize what is happening. America has a rogue president and a rogue administration, and we need to acknowledge that and respond.

Before being elected to the California state legislature or, later, to Congress, Ted Lieu served in the Air Force. “As a former JAG officer,” he told me yesterday, “I know firsthand the importance of an independent, apolitical military justice system. The JAG Corps ensures our armed forces operate within the law, holding even the highest commanders accountable. Politicizing their ranks isn’t just reckless— it’s dangerous. Firing senior JAG officers for political reasons weakens military discipline, undermines trust, and invites unlawful decision-making. No Administration should treat the military as a tool for political loyalty. The JAG Corps defends the rule of law, not any one leader— and that must never change.”

Trump’s purge of independent military legal authorities isn’t just another example of his lawlessness— it’s a calculated move to ensure that, when the moment comes, no one in uniform will stand in his way. This is how authoritarians prepare for the unthinkable: by replacing professionals who swear allegiance to the Constitution with enforcers who answer only to them. A military without independent legal oversight is a military that can be ordered to do anything— detain political opponents, suppress protests, or worse— without resistance from within.

This isn't just about Trump’s personal insecurities or his obsession with loyalty; it’s about dismantling the last internal barriers to outright authoritarian rule. If he succeeds, the next time he demands something illegal, there won’t be anyone left to say no. That should terrify every American, regardless of partisan disposition, who believes the country still belongs to its people, not to a single man and his cronies.