Democrats are attacking the Trump administration for the firing of one of the highest ranking females in the military, with one claiming it was because she wouldn’t hang up a picture of the president.

The Pentagon confirmed that Defense Secretary Hegseth removed Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield of the United States Navy from her position as the American representative to NATO’s military committee. The group is part of the alliance’s nuclear planning group and acts as a liaison between military and political leadership.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated that her removal was “due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead.”

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett fired back to the announcement on X. “They fired Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield — not because she couldn’t do the job, but because she wouldn’t hang up pictures of Trump and Hegseth,” Ms. Crockett claimed. “This ain’t about merit — it’s about ego.”

While there is no evidence that Vice Admiral Chatfield had refused to hang the images, reports she had were amplified by right wing influencers on X.

Vice Admiral Chatfield is one of only a few female three-star officers in the Navy. She was the first woman to lead the Naval War College. She served in Afghanistan as a Navy helicopter pilot

Some conservatives had targeted Vice Admiral Chatfield for removal, labeling her as woke. The American Accountability Foundation included her on a list of senior military officials it said were focused on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts. It cited her as using the phrase “Our diversity is our strength” during a Women’s Equality Day observance.

Hegseth has repeatedly rejected that idea. “I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is Our Diversity is Our Strength,” Mr. Hegseth told troops during a February town hall at the Pentagon.

Sen. Warner said he was deeply disturbed by the firing. “Trump’s relentless attacks on our alliances and his careless dismissal of decorated military officials make us less safe and weaken our position across the world,” Mr. Warner stated on X.

Mr. Hegseth has made the elimination of DEI initiatives in the military a priority. He previously fired Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to become Chief of Naval Operations. Mr. Hegseth said he wanted new leadership “that will focus our military on its core mission of deterring, fighting, and winning wars.”

When top military leaders are fired from their appointments they are not automatically out of the military.

Major General Charles J. Dunlap, Jr. is retired from the Air Force and now on the Duke University law school faculty. He says officers will generally take a voluntary retirement but if they decline they will revert to a lower rank. That will have significant financial implications, including in retirement.

The president could also go back and dismiss them from the armed forces entirely anyway.

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Correction: The Naval War College is the institution that Vice Admiral Chatfield was the first woman to lead. An earlier version misspelled the name of the college.