Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s controversial chief of staff Joe Kasper is now expected to leave the Pentagon, the fifth top official to leave the administration in a week. Kasper was originally expected to serve in a different position in the Pentagon, but will now exit in favor of returning to government consulting, according to an interview to Politico.

Kasper (pictured) joins Hegseth senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, the chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg who were ousted from the department last week. The news is a surprising turnaround after Hegseth signaled his support for Kasper on Tuesday in an interview on Fox and Friends, calling him a ‘great guy’ and a ‘great American.’ ‘He’s staying with us, going to be in a slightly different role, but he’s not going anywhere, certainly not fired,’ Hegseth said. ‘You make changes over time.’

Kasper was reportedly responsible for a toxic work environment, according to reports, as his detractors revealed to Politico that he once joked about taking an ‘enormous [expletive]’ during a meeting with his colleagues. Kasper was also reportedly responsible for forcing out some of Hegseth’s other loyal advisors, accusing them of leaking after a Pentagon investigation.

Among the leaks were details of his trip to the Panama Canal and a China briefing with Elon Musk that was ultimately canceled personally by President Trump himself according to reports. Hegseth was furious about leaks in the department, telling Fox News ‘I don’t have time for leakers’ or the ‘hoax press that peddles old stories from disgruntled employees.’ ‘Disgruntled former employees are peddling things to try to save their [expletive],’ he said.

Former Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot (Pictured) published an op-ed in Politico claiming that the first month of Hegseth’s leadership was ‘a month of total chaos’ and warned that his days were numbered in the Pentagon. Hegseth was dismissive of Ullyot’s op-ed, pointing to unprofessional behavior. ‘Anybody that knows John knows why we let him go. We did a lot of favors for John. He did some good work up front, then he was moved along,’ he told Fox News.

Hegseth acknowledged that the investigation was disruptive as it pointed at longtime advisors but reasserted he was committed to stopping the leaks. ‘It led to some unfortunate places, people I have known for quite some time. But it’s not my job to protect them. It’s my job to protect national security, the president of the United States, and let the investigation go where it is,’ he said.

Hegseth vowed to remain in his job as long as he continued to have the president’s support. ‘I haven’t blinked, and I won’t blink because this job is too big and too important for the American people and I’m grateful for every opportunity the president has given me,’ he said.

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