A senior Pentagon staffer and adviser to Pete Hegseth has been ousted, marking at least the sixth person under the Defense Secretary to quit within his first six months in office, according to reports.
Justin Fulcher, who recently made headlines after accusing a colleague of calling the Pentagon police on him, will no longer serve as a senior adviser to Hegseth, three sources told CBS News Saturday.
Fulcher began at the Defense Department working under Elon Musk’s DOGE before he was promoted in April to serve as a senior adviser to Hegseth, the Washington Post reported.
At the time, Fulcher, along with several other aides to Hegseth, joined a new Defense Department leadership team created in the wake of Signalgate, where top officials gave The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg a front-row seat as they discussed impending strikes on Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
Fulcher made headlines earlier this month, after a Washington Post report revealed he allegedly stormed out of a meeting and complained to his boss, Hegseth, that Yinon Weiss, Elon Musk’s pick to lead DOGE, had reported him to the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.
Since January, at least six of Hegseth’s top advisers have left the department, according to the Post. The former Fox News personality entered the role with little prior experience and has drawn criticism for his early missteps.
Meanwhile, Fulcher, who previously ran a telehealth startup that went bankrupt, seemingly overstated his credentials before he was hired to work at DOGE, including claiming a doctorate in international relations and affairs from Johns Hopkins, according to a Forbes report from earlier this year.
In a statement to the Post, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said it was “not fair” to characterize Fulcher’s departure as a firing and called him a “great guy.”
The Defense Department released a statement on behalf of Fulcher that read: “As planned, I’ve completed 6 months of service in government to my country. Working alongside the dedicated men and women of the Department of Defense has been incredibly inspiring.
“Revitalizing the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military, and reestablishing deterrence are just some of the historic accomplishments I’m proud to have witnessed. Still, this is just the beginning.
“None of this could have happened without Secretary Hegseth’s decisive leadership or President Trump’s continued confidence in our team.
“I’m grateful to both, and to the extraordinary civilians and service members who turn vision into action every day.
“I will continue to champion American warfighters in all future endeavors and remain impressed by the work of the Department of Defense.”
In a text message to the Post, Fulcher reiterated that his departure was “perfectly amicable” and that he had only planned to work there for six months.
