The Pentagon placed two senior political appointees on administrative leave Tuesday amid an investigation into potential leaks of classified information, according to three sources who spoke with Politico. Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was escorted out of the building by security personnel and had his access suspended pending further inquiry, the officials said on the condition of anonymity due to the ongoing probe.
Darin Selnick, the Pentagon’s deputy chief of staff, was also suspended and escorted out of the building as part of the investigation, according to one official. The probe is looking into leaks that include military operational plans for the Panama Canal, details of a second carrier bound for the Red Sea, reports concerning Elon Musk’s controversial visit to the Pentagon, and the halt of intelligence collection for Ukraine, the other official explained to Politico.
While Reuters first reported Caldwell’s removal, Selnick’s suspension and the specific focus of the leaks had not been reported previously. These suspensions occur as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to crack down on leaks within the Defense Department. A March memo from Hegseth’s chief of staff had directed the Pentagon’s director for defense intelligence to investigate unauthorized disclosures and authorized the use of polygraphs.
A Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War, Caldwell previously worked at the right-leaning Defense Priorities think tank and played an important role in advising the Pentagon on Ukraine. In a now-infamous Signal chat that inadvertently included a journalist, Hegseth identified Caldwell as the primary contact for coordinating U.S. military strikes on Yemen.
Earlier this year, Selnick also served as the acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. His background includes roles in the White House and the Department of Veterans Affairs during the first Trump administration, and he is a former senior adviser to Concerned Veterans for America—a group previously led by Hegseth.
