JUST IN: Pete Hegseth’s Chief of Staff OUT At Pentagon

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s Chief of Staff Joe Kasper is leaving his position at the Pentagon.

Kasper was already planning to transition to another role within the Defense Department. However, the original plan has been tweaked…

Today, it was announced that Joe Kasper is leaving the Pentagon altogether. Instead of transitioning to another role, Kasper will be going back to government relations and consulting.

This marks the fifth Pentagon official to exit the agency in the past week.

Here are the details:

BREAKING: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Chief of Staff, Joe Kasper, has been pushed out. According to reports, he's packing his things and leaving TODAY.

This is the 5th top Pentagon official to leave in the last few days. WHAT IS GOING ON? pic.twitter.com/4PFJEkMI4T

— George (@BehizyTweets) April 24, 2025

Kasper’s departure follows the firing of three Hegseth aides last week.

The three men were fired as part of a leak investigation, which Joe Kasper himself ordered.

According to media reports, Kasper was involved in an ‘internal power struggle’ with the aides and harbored a vendetta against them.

SCOOP: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's controversial chief of staff, Joe Kasper is *OUT* and will leave DOD today.

Kasper is the *FIFTH* top DOD official to leave the agency in the past week, and was a central figure in a power struggle that cost three top aides their jobs. pic.twitter.com/40Glja5JFv

— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) April 24, 2025

That said, Pete Hegseth doesn’t seem disappointed in Kasper’s performance.

On Tuesday, Hegseth told Fox & Friends that Joe Kasper was not being fired and that he is “grateful for everything Joe’s done.”

BREAKING: Former chief of staff to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joe Kasper, is leaving the Pentagon.

Joe was originally expected to transition to another role but will instead return to government relations and consulting.

Kasper said in an interview that he will continue… pic.twitter.com/QHbsFCffzk

— RedWave Press (@RedWave_Press) April 24, 2025

BREAKING: Former chief of staff to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joe Kasper, is leaving the Pentagon.

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Joe was originally expected to transition to another role but will instead return to government relations and consulting.

Kasper said in an interview that he will continue to support and advise the Pentagon but as a special government employee.

Pete Hegseth was asked if Joe Kasper was leaving in an interview with Fox & Friends on Tuesday and said, “Joe is a great guy, a great American. He has done a fantastic job for us at the Defense Department.”

“He’s staying with us, going to be in a slightly different role. But not going anywhere, certainly not fired. You make changes over time, and we’re grateful for everything Joe’s done.”

Politico reported on the full story:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s controversial chief of staff, who played a central role in a power struggle that gripped the Pentagon, will exit the agency today.

Joe Kasper was originally expected to transition to another role within the Defense Department, but is now planning to go back to government relations and consulting, he said in an interview.

He will continue to support and advise the Pentagon, he said, but as a special government employee. This will limit him to performing temporary jobs for just 130 days a year.

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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.

The New York Post has more details on the alleged internal power struggle between Kasper and several of Hegseth’s aides:

The firings were the consequence of a “turf war” involving Joe Kasper, the now-former chief of staff to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to this source, who said Kasper “felt threatened that more and more of his portfolio … was being given to” Selnick and Caldwell.

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In response, Kasper ordered the leak investigation that ultimately led to the trio’s terminations, the person said.

Some of Kasper’s nominal responsibilities that Selnick and Caldwell had been overseeing included “recommendations on appointments, decisions on high-level official visits and official travel planning — much of what was emerging as a priority for that given week,” according to the source.

Caldwell had also been given responsibility over Middle East and Ukraine policy in Hegseth’s office, while Selnick was in charge of personnel matters, such as canceling “DEI and identity politics” at the Pentagon, the source said.

“It was simply because [Kasper] wasn’t an effective manager and balls were being dropped, decisions were not made, etc.,” the person claimed, adding of Kasper, “He’s a nice guy but a poor manager.”

Caldwell, Selnick and Carroll were officially terminated on Friday — the same day Kasper left his role as chief of staff for a new one “as a Special Government Employee (SGE) handling special projects” at the Pentagon, a senior defense official told The Post on Monday.