FILE PHOTO: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reacts as he meets with El Salvador Defense Minister Rene Merino Monroy at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo
An exodus of top staffers reporting directly to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is apparently roiling the Pentagon as part of a growing investigation into potential leaks.
Politico reported Friday that three senior Pentagon officials have now been fired as part of the leak investigation: Hegseth senior advisor Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll — who was Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg's chief of staff — have all been officially terminated. And Joe Kasper, who was Hegseth's own chief of staff, is now leaving the Pentagon for a separate job in the Pentagon.
With these staffing changes, the top United States military official is now without a chief of staff, a deputy chief of staff and a senior advisor, less than 100 days into his tenure. An unnamed "senior defense official" suggested to Politico that Hegseth made poor choices for who to trust in his inner circle, with another source saying there would likely be more "chaos" to follow in the coming days.
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“There is a complete meltdown in the building, and this is really reflecting on the secretary’s leadership,” the source said. “Pete Hegseth has surrounded himself with some people who don’t have his interests at heart.”
Additional firings may be announced soon. According to CBS senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs, "at least one uniformed Pentagon official" was also fired in addition to Hegseth's top aides. Chris Meagher, who was assistant Defense secretary for public affairs during former President Joe Biden's administration, opined that the exodus of top staff at the Pentagon was proof that the former part-time weekend Fox News host may not be capable of heading the Department of Defense.
"Everyone knew that Pete Hegseth did not possess the leadership qualities, background, or experience to be Secretary of Defense,” Meagher told Politico. “Everything we’ve seen since then — the firing of several American heroes because of perceived lack of loyalty, the sloppiness of Signalgate, the complete lack of transparency, and now several political staff being shown the door — has only confirmed he doesn’t have what it takes to lead."
As Meagher mentioned, the current leak investigation isn't Hegseth's first scandal as secretary of Defense. In March, Hegseth shared highly sensitive attack plans for airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen on a Signal group text thread with other top administration officials. The details of that chat were made public by Atlantic magazine editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently added to the chat by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
Click here to read Politico's article in its entirety.