Senior Pentagon officials are preparing a plan that would downgrade several major U.S. military headquarters and shift power among top commanders, according to The Washington Post, which cited people familiar with the matter. If adopted, the proposal would reduce the number of combatant commands and cut the number of four-star generals and admirals reporting directly to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Why it matters for U.S. priorities and Congress
People familiar with the plan told The Post the changes would complement Trump administration efforts to move resources away from the Middle East and Europe and focus more on the Western Hemisphere. The Post said the administration’s national security strategy, released this month, declares that the “days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over.”
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According to The Post, the Pentagon’s failure to provide specifics has frustrated members of the Republican-led House and Senate Armed Services committees, who feel left in the dark about the reorganization.
What the proposed command reshuffle would do
The plan would place U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command under a new organization called U.S. International Command, according to five people familiar with the matter.
Another major shift would merge the Northern and Southern Commands into a single “U.S. Americas Command,” or Americom. The Post notes that planners also considered establishing a subordinate Arctic Command but have seemingly discarded that concept.
The Post reported that the combined changes would reduce combatant commands from 11 to eight, leaving the Indo-Pacific, Cyber, Special Operations, Space, Strategic and Transportation commands among those remaining.
Who decides, and what the Pentagon is saying publicly
The Post reported that the Pentagon’s Joint Staff organized the proposal under Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and that Caine is expected to brief Hegseth in the coming days. Any changes would require approval by Hegseth and President Donald Trump and would be reflected in the Pentagon’s Unified Command Plan.
Hegseth’s team said it would not comment on “rumored internal discussions” or “pre-decisional matters.” It said any suggestion of a divide is “completely false,” adding that “everyone in the Department is working to achieve the same goal under this administration,” according to The Post.
Competing ideas and the pushback
A senior official described the overhaul to The Post as a necessary fix for a command structure suffering from “decay,” arguing the changes are vital to accelerate military decision-making.
Other options under discussion include grouping geographic commands under an “Operational Command” and other headquarters under a “Support Command.” The Post also reported officials tested a Pentagon-based “Joint Task Force War” concept, but it did not “test well,” with concerns about losing regional expertise and a “very confusing” handoff of plans.
Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned against consolidating too many commands. “The world isn’t getting any less complicated,” he told The Post.
Newsweek reported that retired Vice Adm. Robert Murrett warned the national security strategy could create “reverberations for years to come and possible near term security challenges,” including what he described as “soft language regarding China.”
What’s next
The Post reports that pending defense legislation would freeze funding for the reorganization until the Pentagon delivers a comprehensive report on its costs and geopolitical risks. Lawmakers inserted a provision requiring a 60-day review period after receiving the blueprint.
The bill is moving through the final stages of congressional approval.
