Politico: Controversial Hegseth chief of staff to leave Pentagon

Joe Kasper will continue to support and advise the Pentagon, he said, but as a special government employee.

A former longtime chief of staff to indicted Rep. Duncan Hunter, Kasper was a leading figure in the firings of senior adviser Dan Caldwell, Hegseth deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, the chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg. The trio were ousted last week in a leak investigation.

Some officials saw the wave of firings as a bid by Kasper to consolidate power.

“Kasper did not like that those guys had the secretary’s ear,” a person familiar with the dynamic said. “He did not like that they had walk-in and hanging-out privileges in the office. He wanted them out. It was a knife fight.”

It’s a dog-eat-dog world!

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/24/hegseth-chief-of-staff-pentagon-leaving-00308721

Politico: The vicious rivalries tearing apart Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon

A feud between the secretary’s advisers and his chief of staff created backbiting and distrust that has erupted into the open.

When President Donald Trump chose Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary, incoming officials knew they’d need to surround the inexperienced Fox News host with accomplished staff who could handle the nation’s largest bureaucracy. Hegseth would be the show horse, they figured, and others at the top would keep the Pentagon on track.

What happened was the opposite. Hegseth surrounded himself with advisers who quickly turned into vicious rivals for power — whose bitter brawl has now unraveled into revenge power plays, surprise firings, accusations of leaking and embarrassing headlines that are blowing up the Pentagon, distracting from Trump’s agenda and possibly jeopardizing Hegseth’s job.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world. Just consider that they’re not starting with the finest of people.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/22/pentagon-infighting-hegseth-fired-officials-00302709

Washington Post: Pete Hegseth, isolated and defiant, has Trump’s backing for now

A dirtbag that only King Donald would keep around:

President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed a deepening controversy surrounding Pete Hegseth, declaring the embattled defense secretary is “doing a great job” despite seismic dysfunction within the Pentagon amid political infighting, numerous firings, and reports he divulged to his wife, brother and lawyer the highly sensitive details of an imminent military operation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ar-AA1DlEUv

WCCO Radio: Hegseth had a second Signal chat where he shared details of Yemen strike

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth created another Signal messaging chat that included his wife and brother where he shared similar details of a March military airstrike against Yemen’s Houthi militants that were sent in another chain with top Trump administration leaders, both The New York Times reported and CBS News has confirmed.

The second chat on Signal — which is a commercially available app not authorized to be used to communicate sensitive or classified national defense information — included 13 people, the person said. The person also confirmed the chat was dubbed “Defense ‘ Team Huddle.”

The New York Times reported that the group included Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, who is a former Fox News producer, and his brother Phil Hegseth, who was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser. Both have traveled with the defense secretary and attended high-level meetings.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/hegseth-had-a-second-signal-chat-where-he-shared-details-of-yemen-strike/ar-AA1DjQgV