Trump fires Franchetti as chief of naval operations

President Donald Trump is looking for a nominee to replace Adm. Lisa Franchetti as the Navy’s top officer, the Pentagon announced Friday night.

A defense official confirmed that Franchetti has been relieved of her duties.

Franchetti became chief of naval operations and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in November 2023 after she was nominated for the job by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate.

Franchetti’s firing was not totally unexpected. Her name was reportedly on a circulated list of officers that the Trump administration was considering sacking for being associated with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives or for other reasons.

She among a handful of top military officers Trump let go Friday.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he will replace Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown with retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine and that he’d directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “solicit nominations” for additional high-level positions at the Pentagon.

In a subsequent statement, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he’s “requesting nominations for the positions of Chief of Naval Operations and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff. The incumbents in these important roles, Admiral Lisa Franchetti and General James Slife, respectively, have had distinguished careers. We thank them for their service and dedication to our country.”

He added that’s the administration is also requesting nominations for the Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Members of the Joint Chief of Staff generally serve four-year terms, and it’s rare for them to be replaced mid-tenure.

“Under President Trump, we are putting in place new leadership that will focus our military on its core mission of deterring, fighting and winning wars,” Hegseth said.

As CNO, Franchetti was a driving force behind key modernization initiatives, including Project 33, which was part of her CNO Navigation Plan that was released in September. That effort called for accelerating the acquisition and fielding of unmanned systems, AI and “information dominance” capabilities, to deter or defeat a Chinese attack on Taiwan or other U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific.

Franchetti also created a new “robotics warfare specialist” general rating.

“RW Sailors will enable Robotic and Autonomous System (RAS) operations and maintenance at the tactical edge. RWs will be the subject matter experts for computer vision, mission autonomy, navigation autonomy, data systems, artificial intelligence and machine learning on our RAS platforms,” she wrote last year in a NAVADMIN announcement.

Prior to becoming CNO, her previous flag assignments included: vice chief of naval operations; director for strategy, plans and policy, J5, Joint Staff; deputy chief of naval operations for warfighting development, N7; commander, U.S. 6th Fleet; commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO; deputy commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa; chief of staff for strategy, plans and policy, J5, Joint Staff; commander, Carrier Strike Group 15; commander, Carrier Strike Group 9; and commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea, according to her Navy bio.

She also commanded Destroyer Squadron 21 and the USS Ross (DDG 71), among other assignments at sea and ashore.

Adm. James Kilby, vice chief of naval operations, is in line to perform the duties of CNO until a permanent replacement for Franchetti is nominated and confirmed.

In an interview with NBC News last year, Franchetti was asked to comment about being the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and CNO.

“I don’t give a lot of time to thinking about … being the first. But what I do think about is that this is the last time that anyone will have to be the first [woman] to be on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. So, you know, I hope that other folks will continue to be inspired by the opportunities I’ve had and continue to do all the things that they want to do in their lives … I’ve always thought if you can see it, you can be it,” she said.

Franchetti did not provide a statement prior to publication.