People Keep Refusing to Become Pete Hegseth's Top Aides
Chief of staff to the secretary of defense is usually a prestigious and sought-after job, but under Pete Hegseth, the White House is reportedly having trouble filling it.
At least three people have turned down top Defense Department jobs—including chief of staff and several senior adviser roles—since Hegseth abruptly fired three of his top aides in April and accused them of leaking information to the press, NBC News reported.
Hegseth's former chief of staff Joe Kasper was also pushed out of the Pentagon following what insiders described as a vicious 'turf war.'
Even with Vice President JD Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles taking an active interest in helping Hegseth recover from earlier missteps that raised questions about his leadership, the positions have remained vacant for more than six weeks, according to NBC.
Wiles and Vance have looked for candidates inside the White House and on Capitol Hill, but Hegseth—a former Army National Guard officer turned Fox News weekend host—has reportedly rejected the White House's choices. The White House personnel office has also deemed some of the candidates insufficiently MAGA.
In a statement to the Daily Beast, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said, 'The anonymous sources cited in this article have no idea what they're talking about. Since November 5, 2024, the US military has seen the highest recruiting percentage of mission achieved in 30 years. There has never been more enthusiasm to serve under Secretary Hegseth's leadership at the DoD.'
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly also said in a statement that Hegseth had the White House's 'full support.'
'Thanks to Secretary Hegseth's leadership, military recruitment is up, terrorists are eliminated, and warfighters are prioritized,' she said.
Hegseth, who remains largely isolated since firing his own inner circle, relies heavily on an aide named Ricky Buria, who left the military in April in hopes of replacing Hegseth's former chief of staff.
The White House, however, refused to give Buria the green light because he's a Biden administration holdover who once called Vance's isolationist views 'wackamamie crazy.'
The career Marine was particularly critical of the vice president's opposition to the administration's March airstrikes on Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, the New York Post reported.
Those strikes were the subject of the now-infamous Signal group chat in which Hegseth shared war plans with The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was accidentally added to the group by former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
A Pentagon inspector general report is expected to conclude that Hegseth shared classified information on the chat, according to NBC. The defense secretary has also reportedly shared sensitive information about the Yemen operation in yet another Signal chat with his wife, his personal attorney, and his brother.
Hegseth accused his fired aides Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll, and Darin Selnick of leaking the details of the second chat, a claim the three men deny. They've slammed their dismissals as 'unconscionable' and said no evidence was ever presented to them.
Originally Hegseth and his personal attorney Tim Parlatore were responsible for overseeing the investigation into the fired aides, but in May, White House officials instructed the deputy defense secretary to handle the probe instead.
The investigation has not revealed any evidence the men were leaking, leading administration officials to question if the firings had been premature, according to NBC.
Carroll told SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly in late April that Hegseth spent at least half of his time investigating leaks and had created a culture of 'fear and toxicity.'
Given the recruitment problems the White House is now having, word seems to have gotten around.
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Hamilton Spectator
13 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Oman says US-Iran talks over Tehran's nuclear program ‘will not now take place' after Israel strikes
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oman's foreign minister says planned talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program 'will not now take place' after Israel's strikes targeting the Islamic Republic. Badr al-Busaidi made the announcement on social media Saturday. It comes after Iran's foreign minister said any talks would be 'unjustifiable' amid the ongoing attacks. Oman has been mediating the talks. 'The Iran US talks scheduled to be held in Muscat this Sunday will not now take place,' al-Busaidi wrote. 'But diplomacy and dialogue remain the only pathway to lasting peace.' A sixth round was due to happen in Muscat, Oman's capital, before the Israeli strikes began Friday. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel's defense minister warned Saturday that 'Tehran will burn' if Iran continues firing missiles, as the countries traded blows a day after Israel launched a blistering surprise attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing several top generals. The attacks have left Iran's surviving leadership with the difficult decision of plunging deeper into conflict with Israel's more powerful forces or seeking a diplomatic route. The ongoing Israeli strikes appear to have halted — for now — any diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program . Israel and Iran signaled more attacks are coming despite urgent calls from world leaders to deescalate to avoid all-out war. The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting. Israel — which is widely believed to have a nuclear weapons program — said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the past two days also killed nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear program. Iran's U.N. ambassador said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded. Iran retaliated by launching waves of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, where explosions lit the night skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and shook buildings. The Israeli military urged civilians, already rattled by the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, to head to shelter for hours. Health officials said three people were killed and dozens wounded. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens. 'If (Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn,' Katz said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that his objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel, but he also urged Iranians to rise up against their leaders. Strikes could derail nuclear talks The U.S. and Iran were scheduled to be in Oman on Sunday for their sixth round of indirect talks over Iran's nuclear program. Iran's top diplomat said Saturday the talks were 'unjustifiable' after the Israeli strikes, likely signaling no negotiations this weekend. But he stopped short of saying the talks were canceled. The comments by Abbas Araghchi, Iran's minister of foreign affairs, came during a call with Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat. The Israeli airstrikes were the 'result of the direct support by Washington,' Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The U.S. has said it isn't part of the strikes. There was no immediate word from the White House after Araghchi's comments. On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program. He warned on social media that Israel's attacks 'will only get worse,' adding that 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.' Iranian missiles strike Israel Khamenei signaled in a recorded message Friday that Iran was prepared to keep up its retaliatory attacks on Israel: 'We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.' Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday, and Iranians awoke to state television airing repeated clips of strikes on Israel, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets. The Iranian attacks killed at least three people and wounded 76, mostly in and around Tel Aviv, according to two local hospitals. One missile severely damaged at least four homes in the nearby city of Rishon Lezion, according to first responders. The Israeli military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where. It was the first report of Israeli military casualties since the initial Israeli strikes. U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures. In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an Associated Press journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one whose front was nearly entirely torn away. Residents of a central Israeli city that was hit Friday night told the AP the explosion was so powerful it shook their shelter door open. 'We thought, that's it, the house is gone, and in fact half of the house was gone,' said Moshe Shani. Israeli police said debris from the interception of drones and missiles fell in dozens of locations in northern Israel, causing damage and fires but no injuries. Israel's main international airport said Saturday it will remain closed until further notice. Indications of a new Israeli attack Iranian state television reported online that air defenses were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz. Footage from Tabriz showed black smoke rising from the city. An Israeli military official said Saturday that the military was poised to carry out more strikes in Iran, saying, 'This is not over.' He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures. Israel's army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said Israel had attacked more than 400 targets across Iran, including 40 in Tehran, where dozens of fighter jets were 'operating freely.' He said it was the deepest point Israel's air force had operated. Defrin said fighter jets struck over 40 'missile-related targets and advanced air defense array systems' across Iran. Overnight, the sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran. Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport. Countries in the region condemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate deescalation from both sides. 'More than a few weeks' to repair nuclear facilities Among the key sites Israel attacked was Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. Satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage there. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility. U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged the infrastructure there, he said. Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, including 'infrastructure for enriched uranium conversion,' and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan. The Israeli military official said that according to the army's initial assessment 'it will take much more than a few weeks' for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had 'concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.' Israel denied it had struck the nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran, after an Iranian news outlet close to the government reported the sound of explosions nearby, Netanyahu said the attack had been months in the making and was planned for April before being postponed. Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard , Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's aerospace division, which oversees its arsenal of ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Two of Bagheri's deputies were also killed, Iran confirmed Saturday. On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division: Gen. Majid Mousavi. ___ Lidman and Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CNN
13 minutes ago
- CNN
Israel attacked three key Iranian nuclear facilities. Did it strike a decisive blow?
Israel's unprecedented attacks on Iran had at their core an elusive and high-risk goal: eradicating the country's controversial nuclear program. Israel targeted three key Iranian nuclear facilities – Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow – and a number of top scientists involved in nuclear research and development. The extent of the damage – and whether Iran's nuclear program can survive – is not immediately clear. An Israeli military official said at a briefing Saturday that strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in Natanz and Isfahan were able to damage the sites 'significantly;' Iran said that damage to the facilities was limited but acknowledged the deaths of nine experts. 'We are at a key point where, if we miss it, we will have no way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons that will threaten our existence,' Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday. 'We have dealt with Iran's proxies over the past year and a half, but now we are dealing with the head of the snake itself.' Iran insists its program is peaceful - here's what we know about the damage to the three sites. Initial assessments indicate that Israel's strikes on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility were extremely effective, going far beyond superficial damage to exterior structures and knocking out the electricity on the lower levels where the centrifuges used to enrich uranium are stored, two US officials told CNN. 'This was a full-spectrum blitz,' said another source familiar with the assessments. The strikes destroyed the above-ground part of Natanz's Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, a sprawling site that has been operating since 2003 and where Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Weapons-grade uranium is enriched to 90%. CNN obtained radar imagery from a space imaging company, Umbra, which captured damage to several areas of the Natanz facility. Other satellite imagery reviewed by CNN showed the same damage more clearly, with black plumes of smoke visibly rising from multiple locations across the site. Electrical infrastructure at Natanz – including the main power supply building, plus emergency and back-up generators – was also destroyed, the IAEA said. That assessment is supported by the two US officials, who told CNN that electricity was knocked out on the lower levels where the centrifuges used to enrich uranium are stored. That aspect of the operation is crucial, because much of the Natanz facility is heavily fortified and underground, so wiping out the power to those parts of the facility is the most effective way to impact underground equipment and machinery. It does not appear that Israel damaged those underground parts of the plant directly, the IAEA said, but the loss of power to the underground cascade hall 'may have damaged the centrifuges there.' Natanz has six above-ground buildings and three underground buildings, two of which can hold 50,000 centrifuges, according to the non-profit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). Centrifuges are machines that can enrich uranium by spinning the gas at high speeds. There is no wider radiological impact. 'The level of radioactivity outside the Natanz site has remained unchanged and at normal levels,' the IAEA said. 'However, due to the impacts, there is radiological and chemical contamination inside the facilities in Natanz,' it added – though the levels would be manageable. The extent of damage at the Isfahan nuclear site in central Iran was more difficult to parse in the hours after it was struck, with conflicting claims over the attack's impact emerging in Israel and Iran. Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesperson of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said Saturday that damage at the site – Iran's largest nuclear research complex – was limited. Equipment at the two facilities was moved in anticipation of the strikes, Kamalvandi said. A shed at the facility caught fire, he added, and there is no risk of contamination. But Israel were more bullish; an IDF official said during a Saturday briefing that the site took significant damage. The facility was built with support from China and opened in 1984, the NTI says. According to the non-profit, 3,000 scientists are employed at Isfahan, and the site is 'suspected of being the center' of Iran's nuclear program. It 'operates three small Chinese-supplied research reactors,' as well as a 'conversion facility, a fuel production plant, a zirconium cladding plant, and other facilities and laboratories,' the NTI says. At a Saturday briefing, an IDF official said Israel had 'concrete intelligence' that Iran was 'moving forward to a nuclear bomb' at the Isfahan facility. Despite advancing its uranium enrichment significantly, Iran has repeatedly said that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and denied that it was developing an atomic bomb. The Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is a far more difficult site to target. The plant is buried deep in the mountains near Qom, in northern Iran, and houses advanced centrifuges used to enrich uranium up to high grades of purity. Israel targeted the site during its Friday attacks, but the IAEA said it was not impacted and the IDF has not claimed any significant damage there. Iranian air defenses shot down an Israeli drone in the vicinity of the plant, Iranian state media Press TV reported Friday evening. Fordow's fate could be pivotal to the overall success of Israel's attacks. In 2023, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that uranium particles enriched to 83.7% purity – which is close to the 90% enrichment levels needed to make a nuclear bomb – had been found in Fordow. 'If Fordow remains operational, Israel's attacks may barely slow Iran's path to the bomb,' James M. Acton, the co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote on Friday. Acton said Israel might be able to collapse the entrance to the facility, but noted that destroying much more of the Fordow site will be a difficult task for Israel. CNN's Katie Polglase, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Christian Edwards, Henry Zeris, Thomas Bordeaux, Avery Schmit, Teele Rebane, Isaac Yee, Mostafa Salem, Betsy Klein, Sarah Ferris, Katie Bo Lillis, Kylie Atwood and Alayna Treene contributed reporting
CNN
16 minutes ago
- CNN
Israel attacked three key Iranian nuclear facilities. Did they strike a decisive blow?
Israel's unprecedented attacks on Iran had at their core an elusive and high-risk goal: eradicating the country's controversial nuclear program. Israel targeted three key Iranian nuclear facilities – Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow – and a number of top scientists involved in nuclear research and development. The extent of the damage – and whether Iran's nuclear program can survive – is not immediately clear. An Israeli military official said at a briefing Saturday that strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in Natanz and Isfahan were able to damage the sites 'significantly;' Iran said that damage to the facilities was limited but acknowledged the deaths of nine experts. 'We are at a key point where, if we miss it, we will have no way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons that will threaten our existence,' Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday. 'We have dealt with Iran's proxies over the past year and a half, but now we are dealing with the head of the snake itself.' Iran insists its program is peaceful - here's what we know about the damage to the three sites. Initial assessments indicate that Israel's strikes on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility were extremely effective, going far beyond superficial damage to exterior structures and knocking out the electricity on the lower levels where the centrifuges used to enrich uranium are stored, two US officials told CNN. 'This was a full-spectrum blitz,' said another source familiar with the assessments. The strikes destroyed the above-ground part of Natanz's Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, a sprawling site that has been operating since 2003 and where Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Weapons-grade uranium is enriched to 90%. CNN obtained radar imagery from a space imaging company, Umbra, which captured damage to several areas of the Natanz facility. Other satellite imagery reviewed by CNN showed the same damage more clearly, with black plumes of smoke visibly rising from multiple locations across the site. Electrical infrastructure at Natanz – including the main power supply building, plus emergency and back-up generators – was also destroyed, the IAEA said. That assessment is supported by the two US officials, who told CNN that electricity was knocked out on the lower levels where the centrifuges used to enrich uranium are stored. That aspect of the operation is crucial, because much of the Natanz facility is heavily fortified and underground, so wiping out the power to those parts of the facility is the most effective way to impact underground equipment and machinery. It does not appear that Israel damaged those underground parts of the plant directly, the IAEA said, but the loss of power to the underground cascade hall 'may have damaged the centrifuges there.' Natanz has six above-ground buildings and three underground buildings, two of which can hold 50,000 centrifuges, according to the non-profit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). Centrifuges are machines that can enrich uranium by spinning the gas at high speeds. There is no wider radiological impact. 'The level of radioactivity outside the Natanz site has remained unchanged and at normal levels,' the IAEA said. 'However, due to the impacts, there is radiological and chemical contamination inside the facilities in Natanz,' it added – though the levels would be manageable. The extent of damage at the Isfahan nuclear site in central Iran was more difficult to parse in the hours after it was struck, with conflicting claims over the attack's impact emerging in Israel and Iran. Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesperson of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said Saturday that damage at the site – Iran's largest nuclear research complex – was limited. Equipment at the two facilities was moved in anticipation of the strikes, Kamalvandi said. A shed at the facility caught fire, he added, and there is no risk of contamination. But Israel were more bullish; an IDF official said during a Saturday briefing that the site took significant damage. The facility was built with support from China and opened in 1984, the NTI says. According to the non-profit, 3,000 scientists are employed at Isfahan, and the site is 'suspected of being the center' of Iran's nuclear program. It 'operates three small Chinese-supplied research reactors,' as well as a 'conversion facility, a fuel production plant, a zirconium cladding plant, and other facilities and laboratories,' the NTI says. At a Saturday briefing, an IDF official said Israel had 'concrete intelligence' that Iran was 'moving forward to a nuclear bomb' at the Isfahan facility. Despite advancing its uranium enrichment significantly, Iran has repeatedly said that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and denied that it was developing an atomic bomb. The Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is a far more difficult site to target. The plant is buried deep in the mountains near Qom, in northern Iran, and houses advanced centrifuges used to enrich uranium up to high grades of purity. Israel targeted the site during its Friday attacks, but the IAEA said it was not impacted and the IDF has not claimed any significant damage there. Iranian air defenses shot down an Israeli drone in the vicinity of the plant, Iranian state media Press TV reported Friday evening. Fordow's fate could be pivotal to the overall success of Israel's attacks. In 2023, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that uranium particles enriched to 83.7% purity – which is close to the 90% enrichment levels needed to make a nuclear bomb – had been found in Fordow. 'If Fordow remains operational, Israel's attacks may barely slow Iran's path to the bomb,' James M. Acton, the co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote on Friday. Acton said Israel might be able to collapse the entrance to the facility, but noted that destroying much more of the Fordow site will be a difficult task for Israel. CNN's Katie Polglase, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Christian Edwards, Henry Zeris, Thomas Bordeaux, Avery Schmit, Teele Rebane, Isaac Yee, Mostafa Salem, Betsy Klein, Sarah Ferris, Katie Bo Lillis, Kylie Atwood and Alayna Treene contributed reporting
