Joe Kasper had been expected to move to a different post at the Pentagon, but now intends to return to working on government relations and consulting, Politico said, citing an interview with him.

Kasper said he will also continue advising the Pentagon as a special government employee, which limits him to working 130 days per year, the outlet added.

His departure is the latest in a series of high-profile exits from the Pentagon, including three top officials who were removed last week amid an investigation into leaks after they reportedly clashed with Kasper.

Former senior advisors Darin Selnick, Dan Caldwell and Colin Carroll hit back on Sunday, saying Pentagon officials had "slandered our character with baseless attacks."

"We still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of 'leaks' to begin with," they said in a joint statement posted on social media.

Hegseth's former Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot also took aim at him in a scathing opinion piece on Sunday that described "a month of total chaos at the Pentagon."

"President Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it's hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer," wrote Ullyot.

The shakeup comes as Hegseth faces a new scandal over his reported use of messaging app Signal to discuss US strikes on Yemen with his wife and other people not usually involved in such discussions,

The White House has stood by him so far, just weeks after it emerged that he also shared details about the strikes against the Huthi rebels in another Signal chat to which a journalist had been inadvertently added.