USA31 August, 20263 min read
Pentagon Installs Conservative Veterans With Online Followings in Pete Hegseth Roles
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Pentagon secretly appointed conservative veteran influencers to undisclosed civilian government roles. Appointees amplify Defense Secretary Hegseth’s views and attack critics of the Trump administration.
Influencers in Pentagon Roles
The Pentagon has secretly installed conservative military veterans with large online followings in government roles, declining to disclose their assignments as they amplify Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s viewpoints and attack those who scrutinize the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the matter and corroborating material. The Washington Post reported that Rob Maness, a retired Air Force colonel, and Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel, were assigned to the office of Anthony Tata, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, with active official government email addresses carrying a “.civ” suffix. The Washington Post also said Thomas Anderson, a retired Army colonel and online commentator who writes under the pen name Cynical Publius, was listed earlier this year with a “.civ” email address and assigned to Tata’s office, but was no longer listed in Pentagon records late this past week.
Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez declined to tell The Post whether any of the three were receiving taxpayer-funded salaries, what their roles were or how long those jobs were expected to last, while Tata did not respond to a request for comment. The appointments have been described as either “special government employees” or “highly qualified experts,” with Schlichter appearing in a government database with an “HQE” designation after his name, according to material reviewed by The Post.
Limits, Culture-War, and Iran
The Washington Post reported that SGEs are limited by law to working no more than 130 days in any 365-day period, while those with HQE status can work full- or part-time, with or without compensation, according to government guidance on the issue. The Washington Post said Tata’s team has taken on culture-war issues including scrutinizing war colleges for “woke” ideology and reviewing how the Biden administration adopted covid vaccine mandates for U.S. troops. The Sri Lanka Guardian framed the Pentagon’s pressure as both a political battle over who speaks for the US military and “growing concern among senior commanders about the resources being consumed by the war with Iran,” citing The Washington Post reporting.
The Sri Lanka Guardian also said senior US military leaders warned Hegseth that prolonging large-scale operations against Iran risks weakening the United States’ ability to respond to threats elsewhere, including to the US homeland. In the same reporting, the Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez declined to tell The Post whether any of the three were receiving taxpayer-funded salaries, what their roles were or how long their assignments were expected to last, while Tata did not respond to a request for comment.
Scrutiny After the Pounds Case
The Washington Post linked the influencer appointments to another controversy involving Jennica Pounds, who writes online under the name DataRepublican and accused a State Department official of attempting to entrap her into publishing government secrets.
The Washington Post reported that Sarah Rogers, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, disclosed on social media that she was the official who had reached out to Pounds, and Rogers posted the documents herself, saying it was not a “trap.”
The Washington Post said the dustup was followed by the Pentagon and Pounds disclosing that she works as a special government employee for the Defense Department, and that she posted on social media that she became an employee in July.
The Washington Post reported that Rogers has been nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and other government-funded media.
The Washington Post added that Hegseth, a former Fox News personality and Army National Guard officer, attempted to reshape the public discourse about Pentagon affairs, including imposing new restrictions on Pentagon press corps members that forced dozens of journalists out of the building.