A waiver granted by Trump allows Ricky Buria, a top adviser to Pete Hegseth, to bypass federal law and depart the Marine Corps at a rank he held only briefly.

Pete Hegseth has lost his sixth senior aide in as many months, with the defence secretary’s struggle to retain key staff leaving the Pentagon in limbo.

Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, has been embroiled in several high-profile scandals since taking office, including mistakenly adding Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a Signal group chat that included discussions of sensitive military plans detailing upcoming military strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

The Pentagon continues to shed staff under Trump-appointed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, with yet another senior aide exiting his position this week. Senior staffer and adviser to Hegseth Justin Fulcher has exited his position,

Justin Fulcher, who served as a senior advisor to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, has departed from the Pentagon after six months. Fulcher announced his exit in a statement shared on X on Saturday, July 19. "As planned, I’ve completed 6 months of service in government to my country," he wrote.