Fox News’ chief national security correspondent, Jennifer Griffin stopped just short of saying that Navy Secretary John Phelan was suddenly fired, without official explanation, because he refused to ignore a court order protecting Sen. Kelly’s First Amendment right to urge service members to follow the law.

Here’s what Griffin said:

"Hegseth and Phelan reportedly butted heads when Phelan refused to ignore a recent federal judge's ruling that said punishing Senator Mark Kelly for making a video in which he reminded military officers of their constitutional duty to not follow illegal orders would violate his First Amendment rights. Hegseth wanted Kelly, a retired Navy captain and former astronaut, brought back onto active duty and stripped of his rank."

Griffin very deliberately ended her report about Phelan’s firing there, without further comment.

Whether or not that particular episode is what drove Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth to fire Phelan, the fact that Whiskey Pete would get upset about following a court order protecting a Navy captain’s right to urge troops to follow the law should be enough to get Hegseth impeached and/or fired.

But even if Hegseth had some other, more legitimate reason to oust Phelan, Griffin painted the nation’s most unqualified, unfit secretary of defense as a dangerously bad leader.

First, she suggested that Hegseth fired Phelan – in the middle of a naval war! – on a sudden impulse. She noted that Phelan’s “sudden departure” came “a day after Phelan met with senators on Capitol Hill about the Navy's budget request and spoke at the prestigious Sea Air Space Symposium to address the Navy's major investments in new ships, including the Trump class battleship, what Phelan called the Golden fleet.”

Griffin added that Phelan and Hegseth had “butted heads … from the get go, especially about how to revive the Navy's flailing shipbuilding.” The New York Post suggested that was the reason for Phelan’s ouster.

Regardless, it looks like Congress and J.D. Vance are getting concerned about Hegseth, too. Phelan’s firing “comes on the heels of Secretary Hegseth firing the Army chief, General Randy George without explanation, in the midst of the Iran conflict, raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill,” Griffin continued. “Hegseth has fired nearly 34 military officers, including four-star generals and admirals, since arriving at the Pentagon 15 months ago, and has been feuding with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a close friend and ally of Vice President J.D. Vance.”

Hegseth should never have been confirmed. He has demonstrated his unfitness over and over again. If any top personnel at the Pentagon should go, it should be puffy-faced Pete.