Five former secretaries of defense are calling on Congress to hold immediate hearings on President Donald Trump’s recent firings of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several other senior military leaders.

Axar.az reports that citing AP, late last week, Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth followed that by firing Adm. Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations; Gen. Jim Slife, vice chief of the Air Force; and the judge advocates general for the military services.

The letter — signed by William Perry, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, Jim Mattis and Lloyd Austin — said there were no real justifications for the firings because several of the officers had been nominated by Trump for previous positions. And it said they had exemplary careers, including operational and combat experience.

“We, like many Americans — including many troops — are therefore left to conclude that these leaders are being fired for purely partisan reasons,” said the letter, adding that “we’re not asking members of Congress to do us a favor; we’re asking them to do their jobs.”

“The House and Senate should demand that the administration justify each firing and fully explain why it violated Congress’ legislative intent that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff complete a four-year term in office,” the letter said.

The chairman has a four-year term, and Brown had served a bit less than 17 months.