Two senior advisers to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have been placed on administrative leave as the Pentagon investigates an alleged unauthorised disclosure of sensitive national security information.

Fox News has reported that one of US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top advisers, Dan Caldwell, has been placed on administrative leave for allegedly disclosing information without authorisation. Citing a Defence Department official, the report stated that Caldwell was suspended amid a growing investigation into the leak of sensitive communications.

Caldwell, who has previously called for a significant reduction of the US military presence in Europe and the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq and Syria, is now under investigation following a March 21 memo signed by Department of Defense Chief of Staff Joe Kasper. The memo ordered a probe into “recent unauthorised disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications” and authorised the use of polygraphs in accordance with legal and policy guidelines.

In a separate development, Fox News also reported that Darin Selnick, Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff, was placed on leave the same day. Selnick, a retired Air Force officer and long-time veterans’ affairs advocate, was reportedly escorted from the building.

Both Caldwell and Selnick, formerly associated with the group Concerned Veterans for America — which was once led by Hegseth — are now under scrutiny as part of a broader investigation launched in March.

At present, no confirmed link has been established between either official and the alleged leak.

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