White House struggles to find qualified people willing to work for Pete Hegseth

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2 days ago

WASHINGTON — The White House is looking for a new chief of staff and several senior advisers to support Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after a series of missteps that have shaken confidence in his leadership, but it has so far found no suitable takers, according to four current and former administration officials and a Republican congressional aide.
Top Defense Department jobs, including the defense secretary's chief of staff, are normally considered prestigious and typically attract multiple qualified candidates. But at least three people have already turned down potential roles under Hegseth, according to a former U.S. official, the defense official and a person familiar with the matter.
Vice President JD Vance and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles have taken an active interest in finding ways to help Hegseth after he abruptly suspended two handpicked senior aides in April, accusing them of leaking classified information in a Fox News interview. Soon afterward, Hegseth announced the removal of his chief of staff on Fox News and a senior press aide resigned, writing later that Hegseth's office was in 'total chaos.'
Vance and Wiles have been searching for candidates who could support Hegseth ever since, according to three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official. So far, though, the administration has not had much luck identifying people who are either willing to work for Hegseth or who fit the bill politically. And the White House has rejected some people Hegseth wants to hire, while Hegseth has rejected some of the White House's candidates.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hegseth's allies dismissed the accounts of infighting and said he is a highly effective defense secretary.
'Not a single one of these ridiculous Pentagon palace intrigue stories points to a single thing that's not getting done at the Pentagon because of the alleged 'chaos,'' Arthur Schwartz, a Republican operative with close ties to the Trump administration, said in a statement. 'This is the very definition of manufactured beltway drama that serves no purpose other than to keep reporters of questionable talent employed.'
Vance, Wiles and others have looked for job candidates in some of the traditional places, including inside the White House and on Capitol Hill, according to the second former U.S. official, a defense official and a congressional aide.
Some candidates have been judged politically problematic, the former U.S. official and others familiar with the process said. For example, the White House personnel office has disqualified some for not being MAGA enough, according to the former U.S. official and a current U.S. official familiar with the process.
In addition to trying to assist him with hiring, the White House has taken multiple other steps to help — and manage — Hegseth.
'Vice President Vance has had Secretary Hegseth's back since the day President Trump nominated him, and he fully supports the incredible work Pete's doing at the Pentagon to improve military readiness and drive recruitment numbers to record highs,' Vance spokesman William Martin said in a statement.
Another White House official it was typical for the White House to be involved in staffing for key roles across government. Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for the White House, said Hegseth enjoys 'the full support' of Trump.
But last month White House officials directed Hegseth to cancel a trip to the Middle East after they learned he planned a stop in Israel, according to a current and a former official.
Instead, they put Hegseth on Air Force One to travel with President Donald Trump, who did not include Israel in his itinerary.
A different Cabinet official, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, visited Israel several weeks later and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump's request. A person familiar with Hegseth's planning said Noem's trip reflected the White House's desire to have Netanyahu meet with a trusted messenger.
When they arrived at the Pentagon early this year, two senior advisers to Hegseth, Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick, were seen as his close allies — previous colleagues of his, even friends, whom he had brought in to staff key roles. Caldwell was a senior adviser to Hegseth; Selnick was Hegseth's deputy chief of staff.
But in April, security escorted Caldwell and Selnick, as well as Colin Carroll, the chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, out of the Pentagon in connection with an investigation into allegations of a leak of sensitive information.
In a joint statement, the three men called the way were treated 'unconscionable' and argued that they were not given any information about the investigation, any leak allegations against them or any evidence that had been found.
A little less than a week later, the turmoil around Hegseth worsened. The New York Times reported that he had shared sensitive information about an ongoing U.S. military operation in Yemen on a Signal chat that included his wife, his personal attorney and his brother, along with others close to him.
The revelation came a month after national security adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly added the editor of The Atlantic to a separate Signal group chat with Hegseth, Vance and other senior administration officials focused on the same military operation in Yemen.
Two days after the Times' story was published, Hegseth went on Fox News and accused Caldwell, Selnick and Carroll not only of leaking information while they were employed at the Pentagon, but also of having given the paper the information about the Signal chat. Hegseth did not publicly describe the evidence against them.
The drama continued in May when White House officials removed Hegseth and his personal attorney, Tim Parlatore, also a Navy official, from overseeing the investigations into the three suspended aides, according to a current official and a person familiar with the probe.
White House officials shifted responsibility for the probe to the deputy defense secretary, Stephen Feinberg, with whom such an investigation would normally reside. That move, according to two sources familiar with the investigation, was a sign that there is a growing lack of confidence in Hegseth's ability to objectively oversee the investigation of his former aides.
After no evidence against the former aides emerged and it became increasingly clear that the three men were not guilty of leaking, administration officials began to question whether their firings had been hasty, two former administration officials and a current official said.
Infighting among the Hegseth advisers who remain continued, meanwhile, according to the defense official and a former administration official. And Hegseth himself remains largely isolated, relying on a small group of advisers, the defense official said.
Hegseth now leans heavily on a former military aide, Ricky Buria, who retired from the military in April hoping he could serve as Hegseth's chief of staff, a civilian position. But White House and Pentagon officials view Buria as a political novice who had reportedly been critical of Trump and Vance in private. (A Defense Department spokesman did not respond to a request for comment from Buria.)
As a result, White House officials rejected Hegseth's plan to hire Buria as his chief of staff, one of the defense officials and an administration official said. Despite that, Buria was seen with Hegseth during his recent trip to Asia in a workout video posted on social media.
Since Hegseth joined the administration in January, he has had successes.
He expunged diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs from the Pentagon and the military services. Recruiting, particularly in the Army, is up on his watch, continuing a trend that began before Trump's inauguration but gained strength under Hegseth, according to Trump administration officials.
And during his recent trip to Asia, Hegseth was seen as effective in messaging to Beijing to stop any potential aggression in the region, according to current and former administration officials.
At the same time, the turmoil in Hegseth's front office has contributed to setbacks.
The infighting helped delay plans for 'Golden Dome,' Trump's signature missile defense program to defend the U.S. homeland, officials said. It has also contributed to the lack of a Pentagon budget, which raised frustrations among Republicans on Capitol Hill, many of whom supported Hegseth in his tight confirmation battle.
Hegseth also approved a China briefing for Elon Musk that included highly sensitive information that Trump canceled after he found about it, according to The New York Times. Trump and Hegseth denied the account, but a former and a current official said Hegseth's misstep affected Trump's view of Hegseth.
Hegseth's role in the use of Signal to share sensitive military information remains a problem for him, and it is likely to resurface soon. A Pentagon inspector general report, which is likely to be completed within weeks, is expected to conclude that Hegseth shared classified information on the Signal chat, according to multiple officials.
Some administration officials, including Vance and his aides, worry that the results of the investigation will further weaken Hegseth, according to a current administration and a former administration official. Hegseth's allies predict that his tenure will continue.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com