Top Hegseth aide tried to oust senior White House liaison from Pentagon

Source: Washington Post

August 4, 2025 at 6:04 p.m. EDT


Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s acting chief of staff tried and failed to oust a senior White House liaison assigned to the Pentagon, people familiar with the matter said Monday, detailing an unusual dispute that marks the latest instance of infighting among a staff plagued by disagreement and distrust.

The clash between Ricky Buria, Hegseth’s acting chief of staff, and Matthew A. McNitt, who coordinates personnel policy as White House liaison at the Pentagon, appears rooted in Buria’s frustration with repeated pushback from the White House as he has attempted to fill positions in the defense secretary’s office. It coincides, too, with the White House’s refusal to let Buria take over the powerful chief of staff job on a permanent basis.

Those familiar with the situation, which has not been previously reported, spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisal by the Trump administration.

The dispute between Buria and McNitt appears to have shaken a fragile agreement between Hegseth and the White House, which allowed Buria to serve as chief of staff only unofficially after several other people were considered for the position but declined to take it, the people familiar with the matter said. Officials at the White House, they said, intervened when Buria tried to get rid of McNitt, effectively blocking the move.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/04/hegseth-buria-white-house-liaison-mcnitt/