Pentagon Halts New Tenure Hires at 3 Military Academies as Hegseth Pushes Firings
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 29
Pentagon Halts New Tenure Hires at 3 Military Academies as Hegseth Pushes Firings
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 29
Summary
Tuesday’s Pentagon directive stops U.S. military academies from hiring civilians into tenured faculty jobs, removing a protection that typically limits dismissals to cause or extraordinary circumstances.
Pete Hegseth said tenure breeds “stagnation” and lets curriculum drift from the academies’ warfighting mission toward professors’ research priorities.
The move fits a broader Trump administration push to tighten control over government workers and academy faculty, including a June order reclassifying about 8,000 senior federal employees.
West Point is already facing free-speech litigation: a judge struck down limits on faculty speaking publicly, and climate scientist Adam Kalkstein sued after losing his tenured role and contract renewal.
Critics including the AAUP say ending new tenure appointments will weaken academic freedom and recruitment, reversing a civilian-teaching model Congress expanded in 1992.