The Pentagon is in "total chaos". This was written for "Politico" by former Pentagon spokesman John Ulliot, who resigned last week.
According to him, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will most likely not remain in his post after the scandal of sharing detailed plans for a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen in a group private chat on the Signal messenger, in which Hegseth's wife and brother participated.
Ulliot emphasizes that the Pentagon building "is in disarray under Hegseth's leadership. The dysfunction is now a major distraction for a president who deserves more from his senior leadership."
The former spokesman also accused Hegsett's team of "lying" about the firing of three senior officials, and said they were fired for how they handled the Yemen leak, not because they themselves leaked sensitive information to the media.
On April 19, the Pentagon fired senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense. According to senior Trump administration officials, Joe Casper, Hegsett's chief of staff, will also leave his post in the coming days.
According to Ulliot, "Hegsett is now leading a strange and confusing purge that has left him without senior advisers." and added that more Pentagon layoffs may follow.
The three fired employees echoed some of Ulliot's claims in a post on social media X, saying they did not know why they were fired. They said they "were not told what exactly we were being investigated for, whether there was still an active investigation, or whether there was even a real investigation into the "leaks" to begin with."
These firings follow others in February, including former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Coast Guard Commander Admiral Linda Fagan, and Air Force Second-in-Command Gen. James Slife.