White House to take choice of Pentagon chief of staff out of Hegseth's hands

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Fri 9 May 2025 14.58 EDT


Exasperated by the turmoil that has dogged Pete Hegseth’s office in recent weeks, the White House will block the US defense secretary’s choice of chief of staff and select a candidate of its own, according to two people familiar with the matter. Hegseth had suggested giving the chief of staff position to Marine Col Ricky Buria after the first person in the role, Joe Kasper, left last month in the wake of a contentious leak investigation that brought the ouster of three other senior aides.

But the White House has made clear to Hegseth that Buria will not be elevated to become his most senior aide at the Pentagon, the people said, casting Buria as a liability on account of his limited experience as a junior military assistant and his recurring role in internal office drama. “Ricky will not be getting the chief position,” one of the people directly familiar with deliberations said. “He doesn’t have adequate experience, lacks the political chops and is widely disliked by almost everyone in the White House who has been exposed to him.”

The White House has always selected political appointees at agencies through the presidential personnel office, but the move to block Hegseth’s choice at this juncture is unusual and reflects Donald Trump’s intent to keep Hegseth by trying to insulate him from any more missteps.

The intervention comes at a time when Hegseth’s ability to run the Pentagon has come under scrutiny. It also runs into the belief inside Trump’s orbit that even the president might struggle to justify Hegseth’s survival if the secretary does not have a scandal-free next few months.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/09/white-house-pentagon-hegseth-chief-of-staff

[Ocelot II]

1. Whomever Trump chooses would be at least as bad as Kegbreath's pick.

[gab13by13]

2. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

I am so relieved that Krasnov is making the appointment instead of Whiskey Pete.

[Ursus Rex]

12. I was thinking that Putin wanted someone he could trust.

But yeah, same thing.

[Jim__]

3. "He doesn't have adequate experience ..." Well, neither does Hegseth or at least half of Trump's appointees.

[slightlv]

19. Reading today that there are 23 former Fox "News" people

in trump's cabinet... of *course* they're unqualified. Being able to read a script rolling on a teleprompter or off a piece of paper held in your hands comes SO close to planning and directing the huge numbers of our military across all the forces, ya know. /snark

[odins folly]

4. Interesting

That they used the term Intervention......

The intervention comes at a time when Hegseth’s ability to run the Pentagon has come under scrutiny.

[Demovictory9]

5. "He doesn't have adequate experience, lacks the political chops and is widely disliked by almost everyone in the White H

So Trump administration has standards?

[underpants]

27. widely disliked by almost everyone in the White House who has been exposed to him."

Last edited Sat May 10, 2025, 10:05 AM - Edit history (1)

Jeebus THAT crowd doesn’t like him?

[Demovictory9]

6. "He doesn't have adequate experience, lacks the political chops and is widely disliked by almost everyone in the White H

So Trump administration has standards?

[Paladin]

7. Yeah, as if adequate experience and "political chops" have been qualifications, so far.

The brain-dead amateurism and ineptitude of trump's staff picks have probably been a net gain for what's left of this country, at least so far...

[ToxMarz]

8. "and is widely disliked by almost everyone in the White House who has been exposed to him."

Notably everyone EXCEPT Hegseth. To be fair, he's probably and AWESOME drinking buddy (if you enjoy being an asshole when your drunk, or even when you're not).

[BoRaGard]

9. The G.O.P, put a five time draft-dodging casino hustler in as 'commander-in-thief'

and so now their surprised that his top appointees are as whacked and incompetent as he is ?

Stupid.

Stupid and dangerous.

[Javaman]

10. I'll just leave this here...

?si=4Icqjwfavv3s5pyH

[johnnyplankton]

11. Maybe they can get him a sobriety coach...

[RainCaster]

28. That's his wife

IMO, that why he brings her to all his events. She can remember what was said when he blacks out. Plus, she can't testify against him, being his spouse.

[johnnyplankton]

30. Good point.

Most people don't understand blackouts. God knows I do/did

[jmowreader]

13. One has to wonder...

Is Trump taking the right to choose a deputy away from Hegseth (yes, I like the "Kegbreath" nickname but won't use it here) because Pete Hegseth can't be trusted to pick anyone good, or because Pete Hegseth won't pick someone worthless enough to serve in this administration? It would be...SO bad...if Hegseth actually chose someone who could do the job for the position as it would violate the standard Trump Administration recruitment practice of moving the barrel and digging down 200 feet.

[C_U_L8R]

14. If even they don't trust him

why should anyone else?

[Prairie Gates]

15. Embarrassing

He's like a Junior SECDEF!

Attaboy, li'l SECDEF. We'll handle the details. You go be a Big Boy in the building with all the corners!

[Buddyzbuddy]

16. Because drunky mcPuke shoes can't be trusted to make the right choice.

Right for the Whitehouse but still wrong for us.

[Godot51]

17. Soon...

... as occurred in his prequel term trumpy alone, along with his faithful advisors, will make all the choices.

[orangecrush]

18. Paranoid, Donny?

[LudwigPastorius]

20. So, Hegseth isn't trusted and competent enough to pick his own chief of staff, but apparently,...

is trusted and competent enough to formulate, execute, and oversee defense policy, manage the DOD's resources, and ensure the readiness and effectiveness of the U.S. military.


Riiiiiight...

[Eugene]

21. "Ricky Buria, the New York Post reported Friday,has called some of Vance's views 'wackamamie crazy' and 'isolationist.'"

White House Blocking Hegseth’s ‘Rasputin’ From Chief Role (The Daily Beast)

The White House is blocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth‘s de facto chief of staff from a permanent appointment due to his criticisms of Donald Trump and JD Vance.

Ricky Buria, the New York Post reported Friday, has called some of Vance’s views “wackamamie crazy” and “isolationist.” Buria, who worked under former defense secretary Lloyd Austin, also said it was “dumb” for the president to use the military for his immigration crackdown.

As a result, some referred to the Biden administration holdover as “Rasputin Ricky.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-blocking-hegseth-rasputin-194728467.html

[Lonestarblue]

23. Ah, now we have the reason--Biden holdover, critical of Vance.

[Skittles]

22. LOL

so NOW they're worried about "inexperienced people who are widely disliked"????

[thesquanderer]

24. re: "reflects Donald Trump's intent to keep Hegseth by trying to insulate him from any more missteps" ---

I doubt Trump personally made this decision, he probably has no idea who Buria is.

[travelingthrulife]

25. Why? Was he about to hire someone normal?

Trump will make a better choice, no doubt.

[BeyondGeography]

26. Taking the keys away from the DUI hire already

Didn’t take long.

[patphil]

29. While they're at it, they should take the glass of gin out of his hands.