Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, acting on the findings of a recently concluded 45-day review of Department of Defense advisory committees, has directed the termination of service for all members serving on committees that were part of the review, in accordance with applicable law.
Trump reshaped the board in late 2020, replacing longtime members like Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright with allies such as Newt Gingrich and Scott O’Grady. Early in his term, Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin removed all Trump-era appointees and restocked the board with establishment figures linked to prior Republican and Democratic administrations, including Susan Rice and former Bush official Eric Edelman.
Former aide to Hegseth, Dan Caldwell, during an interview with Tucker Carlson this week, accused its members of being “incredibly hostile” to President Trump and potentially responsible for damaging leaks.
Caldwell blamed establishment figures like Susan Rice for behind-the-scenes efforts to undermine Trump’s foreign policy, suggesting the board’s makeup favored pro-interventionist “warmongers.” He pointed to Rice and others as possible sources of leaks, saying, “If you want to look where leaks are maybe coming from, that would be a place to start.”
By Thursday, names of board members had vanished from the Pentagon’s website. Internet Archive records show the change occurred after Caldwell’s interview was posted to X on Monday.
It remains unclear why Rice still had access to sensitive materials under Hegseth’s leadership. Caldwell argued that even a board position without formal power gave members like her Pentagon affiliation and access.
