Pentagon infighting results in 3 terminations amid ongoing leak probe

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is currently without a chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, and senior adviser because of turmoil and infighting within his department.

The drama started earlier in the week when former senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg, were placed on leave as per an ongoing probe into a leak and then escorted out of Department of Defense (DOD) buildings.

BREAKING: A defense official tells me that Collin Carrol, the chief of staff to the Deputy SECDEF has been placed on administrative leave.

This follows Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick also being ousted in connection with ongoing leak investigation.

— Konstantin Toropin (@KToropin) April 16, 2025

The three don’t appear to have been pleased with this move.

“According to multiple defense officials, the three employees put on leave this week were never told what they were accused of leaking, were not read their rights and were given no guidance on who they could or couldn’t speak to,” according to Fox News. “They were also not asked to turn over their cellphones as part of the leak probe.”

But other sources stressed that Hegseth did nothing wrong here since the three were civil employees.

“Being placed on paid leave is not considered a disciplinary decision,” legal expert Sean Timmons told Fox News. “It’s considered a preliminary step to conduct an investigation, so if they think they’re being railroaded or hosed, they’ll have some due process opportunity to respond when there’s a formal decision.”

“They’ve been humiliated in the media to some extent. However, this happens every day in the federal government. Generally speaking, what’s happened so far is not necessarily considered discipline. It’s just considered a security protocol step to suspend their authorization, suspend their access to their emails, and a full, thorough independent investigation can be conducted,” he added.

Days later, on Friday, all three were terminated, according to three internal sources who spoke with Politico.

The same day, news emerged that Hegseth’s own chief of staff, Joe Kasper, is leaving his position for another one within the DOD.

Prior to all four men’s departure, Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll claimed that Kasper had a “deep vendetta” against them. Kasper, meanwhile, believed the three were trying to get him fired.

This tension eventually led to “shouting matches in the front office,” one of Fox News’ sources said.

“Joe didn’t like those guys,” another insider source told Politico. “They all have different styles. They just didn’t get along. It was a personality clash.”

But “another Pentagon official disputed those claims and insisted that any accusation the leave had to do with anything other than the unauthorized leak investigation was ‘false,’” Fox News notes.

“This is not about interpersonal conflict,” the official said. “There is evidence of leaking. This is about unauthorized disclosures, up to and including classified information.”

The leak he mentioned was made to The New York Times, which reported in March that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) boss Elon Musk was scheduled to receive a clandestine briefing concerning the U.S. military’s plans for China.

The Times cited several unnamed internal DOD sources. But following the publication of its report, both President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth dismissed the report as bull.

Musk also denied the legitimacy of the report and warned that the “leakers” would be punished:

The New York Times is pure propaganda.

Also, I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT.

They will be found. pic.twitter.com/xANvLMOH5j

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2025

With so many officials out the door so quickly, criticism is now beginning to mount.

“There is a complete meltdown in the building, and this is really reflecting on the secretary’s leadership,” a senior defense official told Politico. “Pete Hegseth has surrounded himself with some people who don’t have his interests at heart.”

“The front office has some really first-rate uniformed military staff, but there’s only so much they can pick up in an organization that big,” a former Trump administration official told Politico. “That kind of dysfunction compounds.”

Democrats, meanwhile, claim that the sudden loss of so many top officials is another example of Hegseth’s lack of experience for the job.

“Everyone knew that Pete Hegseth did not possess the leadership qualities, background, or experience to be Secretary of Defense,” Chris Meagher, who served as assistant Defense secretary for public affairs during the Biden administration, said.

“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,” he added.

Senior Staff Writer
[email protected]

V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

Latest posts by Vivek Saxena (see all)

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.