Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff, who has been at the center of reports about chaos within the Pentagon, is leaving the Department of Defense, he told Politico Thursday.
Joe Kasper had reportedly faced complaints about his inappropriate workplace behavior, including derailing a meeting with a veteran’s group with a story about a night out at a strip club.
Hegseth had been expected to shift him to a different role within the Pentagon, but now Kasper has said he will return to work in government relations consulting.
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He said he will continue to advise the Pentagon as a special government employee, limited to working at most 130 days a year.
“Joe Kasper will continue to serve President Trump as a Special Government Employee (SGE) handling special projects at the Department of Defense,” a senior defense official told the Daily Beast. “Secretary Hegseth is thankful for his continued leadership and work to advance the America First agenda.”
The development is the latest in a hectic week-and-a-half for the department, which saw three top aides escorted from the building and placed on leave amid a probe into whether they were responsible for leaks to the media.
The aides in question—Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll, and Darin Selnick—have slammed their firings as “unconscionable” and thrown doubt on whether a leak investigation is actually why they were ousted.
Politico reported on Wednesday that it the trio was actually booted after a “knife fight” power struggle with Kasper.
Kasper reportedly disliked that the aides had been allowed into Hegseth’s inner circle amid his leadership challenges.
Kasper, a longtime military aide who returned to the government after a stint in consulting, “lacked the focus and organizational skills,” a source told Politico, adding that he had been late to meetings and berated other officials.
There were also complaints about his crass language and inappropriate behavior.
In addition to the strip club incident, Kasper reportedly began a high-level meeting by saying, “Can I just tell everyone around this table that I just took an enormous s--t right before coming in here?”
When Hegseth began to rely on other aides, Kasper reportedly took issue and played a role in orchestrating their firings.
“Kasper did not like that those guys had the secretary’s ear,” a source told Politico. “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.”
On Tuesday, Hegseth had said on Fox News that Kasper would transition to another Pentagon role, denying that he had been fired.
“Joe is a great guy, great American,” Hegseth said, according to Politico. “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.”
Hegseth himself has fallen under scrutiny in recent weeks. The Pentagon has been struck by leaks—including when Hegseth shared operational war plans on a Signal chat that included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
Behind the scenes, Hegseth has reportedly been butting heads with Elon Musk over the DOGE chief’s proposed defense cuts, adding to the chaos at the Pentagon.
