An acting Pentagon staffer who has made numerous enemies within the Trump administration in his short time on the job is getting a permanent appointment, reported Politico on Friday.
Ricky Buria, a retired colonel who has served as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff temporarily for eight months, got the nod this month. Previously, his official title was a senior adviser.
“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,” said the report.
Despite all of that, he has slowly slid into the role anyway after the previous chief of staff, Joe Kasper, lost his job amid a leak investigation — in part by currying personal favor with Hegseth and his wife.
Buria’s rise has reportedly ruffled feathers among others at the department.
“The retired Marine has clashed repeatedly with other Pentagon Trump appointees. He recently tried unsuccessfully to oust fellow Hegseth senior aide Patrick Weaver,” the report continued. “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.”
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