menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

New Pentagon senior staff named after major office exodus

2 26
26.04.2025
*{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img div{display:none}sub,sup{font-size:75%;line-height:0}#converted-body .list_block ol,#converted-body .list_block ul,.body [class~=x_list_block] ol,.body [class~=x_list_block] ul,u .body .list_block ol,u .body .list_block ul{padding-left:20px} @media (max-width:620px){.desktop_hide table.icons-outer{display:inline-table!important}.image_block div.fullWidth{max-width:100%!important}.mobile_hide{display:none}.row-content{width:100%!important}.stack .column{width:100%;display:block}.mobile_hide{min-height:0;max-height:0;max-width:0;overflow:hidden;font-size:0}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{display:table!important;max-height:none!important}.reverse{display:table;width:100%}.reverse .column.first{display:table-footer-group!important}.reverse .column.last{display:table-header-group!important}.row-10 td.column.first .border,.row-12 td.column.first .border,.row-8 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px}.row-10 td.column.last .border,.row-12 td.column.last .border,.row-14 td.column.last .border,.row-8 td.column.last .border{padding:5px 20px 25px 5px}.row-14 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px;border-bottom:15px solid transparent}} Welcome to The Hill's Defense & NatSec newsletter

{beacon}


Defense &
National Security


Defense &
National Security

 

The Big Story

New Pentagon senior staff named after major office exodus

The Pentagon on Friday announced four new senior advisers for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following front office infighting where five officials were pushed out or left.

© Photo Credit

The new senior advisers include Col. Ricky Buria, a former junior military assistant, Patrick Weaver, a former Defense Department “special assistant,” and Justin Fulcher, a top DOGE official placed at the Pentagon.

Sean Parnell, who had been the Pentagon press secretary, has been promoted to assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs and senior adviser.

“Regular workforce adjustments are a feature of any highly efficient organization,” the Pentagon’s acting press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement announcing the new roles.

“Secretary Hegseth will continue to be proactive with personnel decisions and will work hard to ensure the Department of Defense has the right people in the right positions to execute President Trump’s agenda,” she added.

The statement belies the recent upheaval at the department, where earlier this month top staffers Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll, and Darin Selnick were removed after being accused of leaking information, though the three men deny it.

Another Pentagon spokesperson, John Ullyot, decided to leave the building, which he said was in “total chaos” under Hegseth’s leadership.

And Hegseth’s chief of staff Joe Kasper, who was initially set to take another job in the building, this week chose to leave the Pentagon and return to the private sector, though he will still remain a special government employee.

All the turmoil comes as Hegseth has been under siege after revelations of a second Signal chat group in which he allegedly shared highly sensitive information about U.S. airstrikes against Houthi militants in Yemen with his wife, brother, lawyer and others in his inner circle.

The four men named to the new Pentagon positions do not appear to have much experience in government.

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

 

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I'm Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

 

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

 

Essential Reads

How policy will affect defense and national security now and in
the future:

 

Trump: Pledge to end Ukraine war on first day in White House ‘said in jest’

President Trump, nearing the end of his first 100 days back in the White House, says his campaign pledge to end the war in Ukraine on Day 1 was not a serious promise. In an........

© The Hill