OAN Staff Blake Wolf
5:49 PM – Friday, April 25, 2025
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, unexpectedly departed from his position on Thursday amid a “turf war” at the Pentagon, resulting in the departure of multiple high-level officials.
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Kasper will now serve in a reduced role as a part-time special government employee (SGE), performing temporary jobs for 130 days out of the year.
Kasper recently oversaw the firings of senior advisor Dan Caldwell, Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg.
The three Pentagon officials were fired after being accused of leaking classified information to the media, although they have all denied the claim.
“They were Pentagon employees who leaked against their boss to news agencies in this room,” stated White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday. “It’s been clear since day one from this administration that we are not going to tolerate individuals who leaked to the mainstream media, particularly when it comes to sensitive information.”
The investigation was reportedly launched after a leak to the New York Times revealed Elon Musk’s visit to the Pentagon last month. Despite the information on the alleged leaks, some officials saw the firing of the three Pentagon officials as Kasper attempting to remove the individuals in a “power grab,” according to Politico.
“Kasper did not like that those guys had the secretary’s ear,” an unnamed source familiar with the dynamic told the outlet. “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.”
“There’s just a lot of tension, there’s a lot of bad blood,” an anonymous insider told Politico. “And there’s a lot of people trying to assert dominance in an area where it’s very hard to do without cutting somebody else.”
Hegseth spoke on Kasper’s departure, arguing that he was “certainly not fired.”
“Joe is a great guy, great American,” Hegseth stated. “He has done a fantastic job for us at the Defense Department…You make changes over time, and we’re grateful for everything Joe’s done.”
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