The chaos inside Pentagon continues, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth grappling with mounting instability within his leadership team, following the sudden exit of his chief of staff — the fourth departure in the wake of the disastrous Signal chat leak. Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s top adviser, is likely to leave in the coming days, a senior administration official confirmed.
Kasper’s unceremonious exit adds to a growing list of high-profile personnel shits that have plunged the Department of Defense into a period of instability. His departure follows the suspensions of Senior Advisor Dan Caldwell, Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, the Chief of Staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg.
Hegseth Under Pressure
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The ouster of the four officials come after an internal probe into possible leaks of classified or sensitive government data. The controversy centers on a Signal group chat — an encrypted messaging platform preferred for its strong privacy features — that was set up by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz to coordinate U.S. military actions in response to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
However, things went out of control when the group mistakenly added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, sparking immediate concerns over the possible compromise of sensitive and classified information.
Within the chat, Hegseth and other officials shared in-depth military strategies, including exact timelines and specifics of U.S. military operations and assets.
In response to the leak of sensitive intel, the Pentagon’s acting inspector general launched a review to evaluate whether Hegseth and his team followed the proper protocols while using private messaging apps for official government communication.
The review will also assess whether classification rules and federal records retention policies followed protocols.
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Interestingly, Politico revealed that Kasper had actually called for an investigation into internal Pentagon leaks as early as March.
His request included military operation plans for the Panama Canal, the deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Red Sea, Elon Musk’s controversial visit to the department, and a temporary halt in intelligence collection for Ukraine.
Silencing Insiders
Nevertheless, internal tensions may have played a role in the current shake-up, as one defense official told Politico, “Joe didn’t like those guys,” referring to Caldwell and the other since-terminated officials.
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“They just didn’t get along. It was a personality clash,” the official, who didn’t want to be named, said.
With the departures of Kasper, Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll, Hegseth now finds himself without a chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, or senior adviser in his immediate leadership team.
“There’s a complete meltdown in the building,” another senior official told Politico.
The fallout from the Signal chat leak has intensified criticism of Hegseth’s already controversial leadership, with many claiming it highlights a broader pattern of poor oversight and mismanagement.
“Everyone knew that Pete Hegseth did not possess the leadership qualities, background, or experience to be Secretary of Defense,” Chris Meagher, who was the assistant Defense secretary for public affairs during the Biden administration, told the outlet.
