New senior staff announced as White House looks to ‘right the ship’ at the Pentagon

Normally the names of senior staff at the Pentagon don’t make the news, but the precarious position of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth means that every move is drawing scrutiny. NPR reported this week that the White House is looking for possible replacements with Hegseth under fire for putting sensitive military attack plans into at least two insecure group chats.

In-fighting over alleged leaks from the secretary’s office have now resulted in five senior advisers resigning or being fired. On Friday the Pentagon announced four new senior advisers had been promoted; they include Col. Ricky Buria, a former junior military assistant; Justin Fulcher, a member of the DOGE team embedded at the Pentagon, and Patrick Weaver, formerly a Department of Defense “special assistant.”

Sean Parnell, who had been the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, has been promoted to assistant to the secretary of defense and senior adviser.

In a statement announcing the changes, Pentagon acting press secretary Kingsley Wilson said that “regular workforce adjustments are a feature of any highly efficient organization.” But there is nothing about the latest moves that are “regular workforce adjustments.” Three top staffers were removed, with Hegseth saying they were leaking information, though all three deny it. And a fourth staffer — his chief of staff Joe Kasper, who Hegseth said would be taking another job — instead decided to leave the Pentagon altogether and return to the private sector.

A former Trump official who requested anonymity to describe internal administration deliberations said the White House has been reaching out, searching for possible advisers to serve in Hegseth’s office in an effort to “right the ship.” But the official was doubtful there were many who would want to take the job at a Pentagon that is in such disarray. NPR reached out to the White House for comment but did not hear back.

Those who have been named to the new positions have little experience in government.

Parnell, a Pittsburgh native, served in the military for six years, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House in 2020, and the next year launched a short-lived campaign for the U.S. Senate. Fulcher, who Forbes magazine featured in its 30 under 30 list in 2017, came into the Pentagon as part of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE team. Forbes later featured him again in an article questioning his credentials as an entrepreneur. Weaver graduated from college in 2017, and served in the first Trump administration at the Department of Homeland Security.

Wilson, 26, had been deputy press secretary and will now be acting press secretary. Just last month, she was criticized by members of Congress and Jewish groups for online posts and past public commentary she made before joining the Trump administration.

Those who have served as press secretary generally have long experience, either on Capitol Hill, the military, journalism or private industry.

Kenneth Bacon, Defense Secretary William Cohen’s spokesman, had been a veteran who worked on Capitol Hill, and then for The Wall Street Journal. Victoria Clarke served as spokesperson for Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and had worked on Capitol Hill for Sen. John McCain and then in the Reagan and Bush White Houses.

More recently, under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the top spokesman was retired Rear Adm. John Kirby, who later went on to be the State Department spokesman.

Similarly, those who hold the title Pentagon chief of staff also have long experience.

Robert Rangel was a chief of staff to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and before that, he held the post under Rumsfeld, who recruited him from the House Armed Services Committee. Rangel served as staff director for the committee.

In particular the absence of a chief of staff could stymie progress at the Pentagon. That role usually directs the massive traffic of demands on the secretary of defense, who is in charge of about 3 million staff, including troops deployed all over the world. Turmoil in that office means things like requests from Congress and even decisions about appointments have been stacking up.

Democrats and at least one Republican in Congress say Hegseth should be replaced.

Hegseth has not appeared in the Pentagon briefing room since he came to the Defense department. His press secretary has been there once for a briefing. Instead, both Hegseth and his press secretary often communicate through short videos.