Embattled Top Hegseth Aide Wins Promotion

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth got an unexpected Christmas gift from President Donald Trump this year: Hegseth’s embattled chief of staff — who’d been doing the job in an acting capacity for eight months — will take the role permanently, according to two people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss personnel issues.

Hegseth reportedly tried to make Ricky Buria his official chief of staff beginning in the spring but was blocked by the White House presidential personnel office. Buria was a former junior military aide for Biden-era Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and donated to a Democrat in 2023, according to FEC records.

Pinch hitter: Buria replaced former Hegseth chief of staff Joe Kasper who left in the spring shortly after a wave of firings of Hegseth senior aides that Pentagon officials attributed to a leak investigation. Several of the aides contested the investigation and their subsequent dismissals. Besides being very close to Hegseth, Buria has also reportedly won over Hegseth’s wife Jennifer.

Buria updated his LinkedIn profile on Friday to note the change to chief of staff from “senior adviser.”

The retired Marine has clashed repeatedly with other Pentagon Trump appointees. He recently tried unsuccessfully to oust fellow Hegseth senior aide Patrick Weaver, POLITICO reported. Buria also tried to fire Matt McNitt, White House liaison to the Pentagon, but McNitt kept his job and is now also temporarily dual-hatted to a role in the White House.

In the late summer, the White House reupped its search for a new Hegseth chief of staff, following the Buria dustup with McNitt, who had told him he would never be chief of staff.

Early retirement: After twenty years in the Marines, Buria retired from the military as a colonel after getting a waiver from Trump even though he had only held the rank for a brief amount of time.

“Secretary Hegseth has put together an all-star team, and we are proud of our historic accomplishments,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the White House had no immediate comment.