A widening leak probe has plunged the Pentagon into turmoil, with multiple senior officials suspended and a top spokesman forced to resign—exposing deep fractures and internal power struggles in the nation’s defense leadership.
At a Glance
- Two senior Pentagon advisers suspended in federal leak investigation
- Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary Feinberg also placed on leave
- DEI purge and internal politics linked to suspensions
- High-level resignations tied to Trump administration’s defense overhaul
- Investigation may include polygraph testing to uncover leaks
Leadership Exodus and Leak Investigation
A national security controversy has engulfed the Department of Defense. Federal investigators are probing unauthorized leaks about sensitive military operations, prompting the suspension of multiple top Pentagon officials. Among them is Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was escorted out of the building earlier this week. Caldwell had been deeply involved in shaping military policy, including U.S. strategy in Yemen, and reportedly disclosed information about Pentagon planning around the Panama Canal and Red Sea, as well as a classified Elon Musk briefing. These details were first reported by Politico.
Joining him is Darin Selnick, the Pentagon’s deputy chief of staff, who played a lead role in executing former President Trump’s directive to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) content from official defense platforms. Selnick’s placement on administrative leave adds weight to allegations that the leak investigation is just one front in a much broader internal battle over ideology and control. The New York Times and Los Angeles Times have confirmed the suspensions.
Watch Reuters’ video report on the Pentagon investigation here.
Fallout Spreads Across Defense Leadership
A third top official, Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen A. Feinberg, has also been suspended after meeting with investigators. Carroll previously held high-level posts at Anduril Industries and the Pentagon’s artificial intelligence division. According to Politico, his suspension signals that the probe may be expanding to include broader elements of the Trump-aligned defense leadership.
The scandal also triggered the abrupt resignation of John Ullyot, a former Pentagon spokesman overseeing DEI-related content removal. Although Ullyot claims the departure was scheduled, defense sources told the Los Angeles Times he was asked to resign amid mounting scrutiny over how the DEI purge was conducted.
A Crisis of Confidence
The Pentagon’s own spokesperson has downplayed the crisis, framing it as an internal management dispute rather than a national security breach. But according to Reuters, investigators may soon use polygraph testing to determine the sources of the leaks—raising the stakes and signaling how seriously the Department views these violations.
These leadership shake-ups come as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushes forward with an aggressive restructuring of Pentagon priorities to align with Trump-era defense philosophies. But the investigation has exposed sharp divisions between traditional military leadership and ideological appointees, with operational security caught in the crossfire.
Implications for U.S. Defense Readiness
With trust fractured and high-level roles in flux, the leak investigation underscores vulnerabilities not just in information security, but in institutional cohesion. The Pentagon’s effectiveness hinges on internal stability—and this scandal has thrown that into question. As global tensions rise, from Eastern Europe to the South China Sea, the leadership vacuum could complicate the U.S. military’s strategic posture.
This ongoing saga is more than a personnel dispute. It’s a window into how deeply political dynamics have seeped into the core of U.S. defense operations—and a warning sign about what happens when secrecy, ideology, and chain of command collide.
