[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5343 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5343
To require congressional notification of the relief or early departure
of certain general and flag officers.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 6, 2026
Ms. Slotkin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require congressional notification of the relief or early departure
of certain general and flag officers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Military Leadership Removal
Transparency Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION OF RELIEF OR EARLY DEPARTURE OF
CERTAIN GENERAL AND FLAG OFFICERS.
Chapter 35 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following new section:
``Sec. 606. Notification of relief or early departure of certain
general and flag officers
``(a) Covered Officer Defined.--In this section, the term `covered
officer' means an officer serving in the grade of general, admiral,
lieutenant general, or vice admiral in--
``(1) a position of importance and responsibility under
section 601 of this title; or
``(2) any other position designated by the Secretary of
Defense for purposes of this section.
``(b) Notice Required.--Not later than 5 days after the relief,
removal, reassignment, resignation, retirement, request for retirement,
or other separation from position of a covered officer before the
expected completion of service in that position, the Secretary of
Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate
and the House of Representatives written notice of such action.
``(c) Early Departure.--For purposes of this section, a covered
officer shall be considered to separate from a position before the
expected completion of service in that position if the officer departs
before--
``(1) the date of a publicly announced or officially
scheduled change of command, retirement, reassignment, or end
date for a tour of duty;
``(2) the date on which a successor is scheduled to assume
the position; or
``(3) if no such date has been established, 24 months after
the officer assumed the position.
``(d) Applicability to Resignation or Retirement.--The notice
requirement under subsection (b) applies regardless of whether the
resignation, retirement, or request for retirement--
``(1) was initiated by the Department or by the officer;
``(2) occurred in lieu of relief, removal, or reassignment;
or
``(3) occurred without a formal written direction to depart
the position.
``(e) Contents of Notice.--A notice under subsection (b) shall
include--
``(1) the name, grade, and position of the covered officer;
``(2) the effective date of the action;
``(3) the nature of the action, including whether the
action was a relief, removal, reassignment, resignation,
retirement, request for retirement, or other departure;
``(4) whether the action was initiated by the Department or
by the officer;
``(5) a statement of the stated basis for the action; and
``(6) whether any investigation, command inquiry, Inspector
General review, or other fact-finding has been initiated in
connection with the action.
``(f) Detailed Report.--Not later than 30 days after submitting a
notice under subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense shall submit to
the committees specified in subsection (b) a detailed report on the
action, which may be submitted in whole or in part in classified form
consistent with subsection (g), including--
``(1) a statement of the basis for the action signed by the
Secretary of Defense, or by the Secretary of the military
department concerned if designated by the Secretary of Defense;
``(2) any findings of investigation, command inquiry,
Inspector General review, or other fact-finding completed as of
the date of the report;
``(3) whether the covered officer was afforded an
opportunity to provide a written statement for inclusion in the
report, and any such statement if provided;
``(4) a certification by the Secretary of Defense whether
the action was taken principally on the basis of misconduct,
performance, loss of confidence, force management,
reorganization, or other legitimate military or civilian
leadership considerations, and not principally in retaliation
for the good-faith provision, in the course of official duties,
of military, operational, intelligence, readiness, legal, or
risk assessments to civilian or military superiors; and
``(5) whether the Joint Staff, the Secretary of the
military department concerned, the Chief of Staff of the Army,
the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commandant of the Marine
Corps, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Chief of Space
Operations, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, or the
commander of the combatant command concerned recommended the
action.
``(g) Classified Annex.--If the Secretary of Defense determines
that any information required under subsection (e) or (f) cannot be
provided in unclassified form without harm to national security, the
Secretary may submit such information in classified form, provided
that--
``(1) the Secretary submits concurrently an unclassified
notice or report containing the maximum amount of information
that may be provided in unclassified form; and
``(2) the classified submission is provided as a classified
annex to the notice or report otherwise required under this
section.
``(h) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to limit the constitutional authority of the President as
Commander in Chief or the authority of the Secretary of Defense to
assign, reassign, or relieve officers. The exercise of such authority
shall remain subject to the notification and reporting requirements of
this section.''.
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