WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the active duty military on Monday to shed 20% of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration keeps pushing the services to streamline their top leadership positions.

Hegseth also told the National Guard to shed 20% of its top positions.

In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership.”

On top of the cuts to the top-tier four-star generals, Hegseth directed the military to shed an additional 10% of its general and flag officers across the force, which could include any one-star or above or officer of equivalent Navy rank.

There are about 800 general officers in the military, but only 44 of those are four-star general or flag officers. Hegseth has already directed the firings of more than a half-dozen three- and four-star generals since taking office, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr., saying those eliminations were “a reflection of the president wanting the right people around him to execute the national security approach we want to take.”

Hegseth said the cuts aimed to free the military from “unnecessary bureaucratic layers.”

The Pentagon is under pressure to slash spending and personnel as part of the broader government cuts pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Last week, Hegseth ordered a sweeping transformation to the Army to “build a leaner, more lethal force,” including merging or closing headquarters, dumping outdated vehicles and aircraft, slashing as many as 1,000 headquarters staff in the Pentagon and shifting workers to the field.

Also last week, the Army confirmed that there will be a military parade on Trump’s birthday in June, as part of the celebration around the service’s 250th birthday. Officials say it will cost tens of millions of dollars.

AGs target HHS cuts: Attorneys general in 19 states and the District of Columbia are challenging cuts to the U.S. Health and Human Services agency, saying the Trump administration’s massive restructuring has destroyed life-saving programs and left states to pick up the bill for mounting health crises.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Rhode Island, New York Attorney General Letitia James said. The attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia signed onto the complaint.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. restructured the agency in March, eliminating more than 10,000 employees and collapsing 28 agencies under the sprawling HHS umbrella into 15, the attorneys general said. An additional 10,000 employees had already been let go by President Donald Trump’s administration, according to the lawsuit, and combined the cuts stripped 25% of the HHS workforce.

“In its first three months, Secretary Kennedy and this administration deprived HHS of the resources necessary to do its job,” the attorneys general wrote.

Helicopter concern: The Army is pausing helicopter flights near a Washington airport after two commercial planes had to abort landings last week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon.

The commander of the 12th Aviation Battalion directed the unit to pause helicopter flight operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after Thursday’s close calls, two Army officials confirmed Monday to The Associated Press.

One official said the flights have been paused since Friday.

Sixty-seven people died in January when a passenger jet collided in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National.

Boat flips near San Diego: A small boat believed to be carrying migrants capsized early Monday off San Diego’s coast and left three people dead and four injured, while U.S. Coast Guard crews were searching for nine others, officials said.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris Sappey said it was unclear where the boat was coming from before it flipped shortly after sunrise about 35 miles north of the Mexico border. He described the vessel as a panga, a single- or twin-engine open fishing boat commonly used by smugglers.

Migrants are increasingly turning to the risky alternative offered by smugglers to travel by sea to avoid heavily guarded land borders.

Romanian PM resigns: Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced his resignation Monday, a day after the governing coalition’s joint candidate failed to advance to the runoff in the closely watched rerun of the presidential election.

The coalition’s candidate, Crin Antonescu, was third in Sunday’s first round, far behind top finisher hard-right nationalist George Simion and pro-Western reformist Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan.

“Rather than let the future president replace me, I decided to resign myself,” Ciolacu told reporters after a meeting of his Social Democratic Party.

Sunday’s rerun underscored strong anti-establishment sentiment among Romanians and signaled a power shift away from traditional mainstream parties. It also renewed the political turmoil that has gripped the European Union country that’s a NATO member.

The rerun took place months after a top court annulled the previous race after allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference, which Moscow has denied. The unprecedented decision plunged Romania into its worst political crisis in decades.

Ciolacu had said one aim of forming the coalition last December, after the failed election, was to field a common candidate to win the presidency. After Sunday’s vote, he said, the coalition now “lacks any credibility.”

Ciolacu said his party would not officially support either candidate in the final presidential vote May 18.

An interim prime minister will be selected from the current Cabinet of ministers and appointed by interim President Ilie Bolojan, expected to make an appointment Tuesday.

10 die in China: Four boats capsized in a sudden storm at a tourist spot in southwestern China, killing 10 people, state media said Monday.

More than 80 people fell into a river when strong winds hit the scenic area in Guizhou province late Sunday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV said.

The boats capsized on the upper reaches of the Wu River, a tributary of the Yangtze, China’s longest river. Two boats had no passengers, and the seven crew members saved themselves, CCTV said.