Political analysts and observers expressed outrage on Sunday after The Washington Post revealed a MAGA influencer operation taking place inside the Pentagon.
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The U.S. Department of Defense has appointed several conservative military veterans with significant online influence to government positions without publicly disclosing their roles, according to sources familiar with the matter and supporting documents.
The appointees have promoted the ideas of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and criticized those who question the Donald Trump administration, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.
According to sources close to the case, at least some of these influential figures have been appointed to civilian positions that could influence public policy.
The Post reported, citing people familiar with the operation, that the Pentagon hired several MAGA influencers as employees to amplify Pete Hegseth’s viewpoints and to “attack those who criticize the Trump administration.”
Two of the hires mentioned in the report are Rob Maness, a retired Air Force colonel with over 135,000 followers on X, and Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel with nearly 620,000 followers on the same social network.
Pentagon records reviewed by the Post show that both had active official government email addresses last week and were assigned to the office of Anthony Tata, Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. These addresses include the “.civ” extension, indicating they are classified as civilian employees rather than military personnel or contractors.
Another retired Army colonel and influencer, Thomas Anderson, appeared in Pentagon records earlier this year with a “.civ” email address and assigned to Tata’s office, according to sources familiar with the matter and records reviewed by the newspaper. A lawyer by profession, he writes online under the pseudonym Cynical Publius and has over 323,000 followers on X. By the end of last week, he no longer appeared in Pentagon records, according to the same sources.
The assignments of the three had not been previously disclosed. Questions about the influencers’ connections to the Pentagon have been raised online, including in an article published last week by The Bulwark.
“Neither the Pentagon nor those involved have revealed the government roles, despite the Trump administration’s claims that they are running the most transparent Department of Defense in history,” the Post report partly reads.
According to sources close to the matter, these individuals are designated as “special government employees” (SGE) or “highly qualified experts” (HQE). Schlichter appears in a government database with the “HQE” designation after his name, according to information reviewed by the newspaper.
Special government employees have a legal limit of 130 days of work within a 365-day period. Those with the HQE designation can work full-time or part-time, with or without pay, according to government guidelines published in 2023. It has not been clarified what financial arrangements were made with Maness, Schlichter, and Anderson, nor when their respective assignments began.
Tata’s team has addressed various cultural war issues, such as analyzing military academies for progressive ideologies and reviewing how the Joe Biden administration adopted Covid-19 vaccination mandates for U.S. troops.
These individuals have also publicly expressed opinions aligned with Hegseth and the Trump administration. Maness called for the removal of Pentagon employees considered “disloyal” in an article published last month, while Schlichter praised Trump as a “hero” for his confrontation with Iran in a column.
Anderson has frequently criticized opponents of the Trump administration and defended Hegseth’s military reforms, writing in April that there was “a cancer in the U.S. military ranks” that “must be eradicated.”
According to two sources, Maness, Schlichter, and Anderson also visited the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in May as part of a Pentagon task force aimed at eliminating what Hegseth described as “toxic” or “progressive” ideology from military education.
Another influential military figure, John Konrad, noted that he had held talks with the administration this spring about the possibility of becoming a special government employee at the Pentagon. Konrad, a former member of the U.S. Merchant Marine and founder of the maritime website gCaptain, stated that the Department of Defense contacted him to offer a position and that he later felt “ignored.”
The Pentagon also hired Jerry Dunleavy, a journalist from the conservative outlet Just the News, to collaborate with Hegseth’s team on an ongoing review of the fall of Afghanistan. The Pentagon disclosed Dunleavy’s involvement in May.
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The Post report stunned political analysts and observers, who shared their reactions online.
“This is nothing more than an indirect way to use taxpayers’ money to fund psychological operations against themselves,” posted Jim Stewartson on X, a political writer who recently won a defamation lawsuit filed by FBI Director Kash Patel. “This is illegal and desperate. This Pentagon is a paranoid and dysfunctional mess. We are in serious trouble if we face any serious external challenge right now,” he added.
“So now both the Department of Defense and Russia are hiring right-wing influencers to carry out malicious influence operations against the United States. Great!” wrote Terry Virts, former NASA astronaut, on X.
“Disgusting!” commented Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, on the same social network.
“Another element of Hegseth’s growing propaganda machine is finally exposed,” posted Paul Rieckhoff, host of the political podcast “Independent Americans,” on X.
On Sunday, it was also reported that U.S. military chiefs had warned Pete Hegseth that prolonging the war with Iran is unsustainable.
The warning appeared this month in the Secretary of Defense’s Orders Book, which details the availability of U.S. military resources worldwide and includes input from senior defense officials, The Washington Post reported. The book is usually published twice a month.
In a classified warning addressed to the U.S. Secretary of Defense, leaders of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force stated that prolonging the conflict severely weakened the United States’ ability to address threats elsewhere, including on its own territory.
According to sources consulted by the newspaper, military leaders were prompted to speak out after the book stated that some U.S. troops would remain in the Middle East until 2027.
Specifically, leaders overseeing operations in Latin America and Europe warned that sending their ships and aircraft to the Middle East “has diminished their ability to meet national defense obligations,” the outlet reported.
Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that all options remain open, including returning to a large-scale conflict, in an attempt to increase pressure on Iran.
However, six months after the conflict began, the consensus among senior military commanders was that the situation had been “excessive and prolonged,” The Washington Post reported, citing sources familiar with the recent assessment.
Generals and admirals, including those overseeing U.S. operations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, said they disagreed with Hegseth’s order to extend their forces, arguing it had weakened U.S. capabilities elsewhere.
Amid these warnings, the United States launched attacks against Iran on Sunday, the first in a month, targeting missile launchers in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to U.S. Central Command, Iranian forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with naval mines, prompting the preemptive strikes.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that the attack on Larak Island, located near the mouth of the strait, caused the deaths of several soldiers and civilians, and promised it would receive “response and punishment.”
The IRGC responded by launching ballistic missiles against the U.S. bases Rey Hussein and Al-Azraq in Jordan, Iranian media reported late Sunday. The attacks caused severe damage to U.S. military infrastructure, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated.
