300 generals and officers didn’t resign from Defense Department, despite claims

In August 2026, multiple social media posts claimed 300 military officers and generals had resigned from the U.S. Department of Defense. 

The posts circulating on X, Facebook, and Threads claimed this was the “largest wave of resignations in U.S. history” and “could lead to an almost complete change in the American system.” 

Snopes readers contacted us to investigate the claim, versions of which had circulated online for more than a year. For example, a February 2025 Reddit post read, “MILITARY REVOLT! 300 Generals QUIT on Trump — Call Him a TRAITOR!”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has presided over numerous firings and dozens of resignations during his tenure. However, there is no evidence that 300 military officers and generals participated in a mass resignation in August 2026, as posts suggested. As such, we rate this claim as false.

In an email to Snopes, a Defense spokesperson denied that any mass resignations took place. The spokesperson did not, however, respond to additional questions about the firings and resignations that took place under Hegseth. 

Searches on Google, Bing (archived), and DuckDuckGo (archived) also returned no results for credible news outlets reporting on the purported mass resignations, which would have been the case if the claim were true.

Numerous military personnel have voluntarily resigned or been fired throughout Hegseth’s time as defense secretary.

In March 2025, the Pentagon said it accepted 21,000 voluntary resignations after the Department of Defense announced it would cut approximately 50,000 to 60,000 jobs as part of an effort to reduce the federal workforce. These resignations were for civilian jobs rather than military leadership positions. 

In May 2025, Hegseth ordered a 20% reduction of four-star generals and admirals across the military. This was not a voluntary mass resignation but part of the ongoing government effort to reduce the federal workforce.

Hegseth also reportedly investigated around 300 of his Defense Department employees for purported criticism of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in September 2025. These investigations targeted military and civilian personnel as well as contractors but did not result in mass resignations of top leadership. 

Hegseth oversaw numerous firings of top military officials and resignations during his time as secretary. In April 2026, Hegseth fired Navy Secretary John Phelan and ousted Gen. Randy George, the Army’s chief of staff, news outlets reported. Anonymous former officers told MS NOW they were pushed out of their jobs or forced to retire early after questioning leadership decisions. The same report said Hegseth had pushed out or fired dozens of senior military officials and blocked promotions for dozens more. However, whether this number reached the hundreds remained unproven as of this writing. The Department of Defense declined to respond to our question on the exact number of officers who were fired, submitted resignations or retired early. 

The most recent resignation rumor circulating online echoes numbers from a 1922 New York Times article that stated, “More than 300 officers have left the United States Army through the work of the plucking board and through resignations, Secretary of War Weeks announced today.”

While many resignations and firings have taken place under Hegseth, reports of an apparent mass resignation involving 300 military leaders in August 2026 are inaccurate.

For further reading, Snopes has previously fact-checked many claims about Hegseth’s Department of Defense. 

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