Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) signed a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urging the Trump administration not to politicize the military by removing generals and flag officers after rumors surfaced that Secretary Hegseth plans to fire officers involved in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

“We cannot tolerate the politicization of the US Military, and I’ll do everything I can to prevent it,” said Rep. Golden on X.

“These officers were confirmed by the Senate & served admirably under presidents of both parties. Our military and all Americans deserve assurances that the most lethal, ethical military the world has ever known will continue to perform its duties without regard for politics,” Golden added in another post.

The letter acknowledged that, as President, Trump has the absolute constitutional right to dismiss military officers but warned against dismissing them for political reasons.

Golden and the five other signatories requested that the administration answer a series of questions detailing how, and on whose recommendation, he will determine who to dismiss.

The authors also want Hegseth to explain the grounds on which he will dismiss an officer and the process for providing that dismissal to the officer so that the service members will be able to dispute their dismissal if the reasons for it are factually inaccurate.

Signatories include Golden, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebr.), and Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.).

The letter came after CNN, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the matter, claimed that Hegseth plans to fire more than six high-ranking generals and admirals, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General CQ Brown.

Hegseth has previously called for Gen. Brown’s removal, along with any other generals involved in the “woke” DEI programs.

DEI replaces merit with traits such as race, sex, or sexual orientation, arguing that some people are inherently privileged and others inherently victims based on those traits. It typically considers perceived victimhood over merit when offering benefits, in this case, military positions of power.