WASHINGTON — A top adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has left his position, the Pentagon announced late Saturday, becoming the latest in a string of senior officials to leave the department’s top ranks.

The official, Justin Fulcher, joined the Trump administration as part of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk’s government overhaul initiative, and later became an adviser to Hegseth. In a statement, Fulcher said he had planned to work for the federal government for only six months.

Earlier this month, The Washington Post detailed a confrontation between Fulcher and other DOGE staff members assigned to the Pentagon. But officials downplayed that incident as a cause, insisting Fulcher’s exit was friendly.

Under Hegseth, the office of the secretary of defense, the core group of advisers who help manage the Pentagon’s sprawling bureaucracy, has undergone an unusual amount of turnover.

In April, Dan Caldwell and Darin Selnick, aides to Hegseth, were placed on leave from the Pentagon amid a leak investigation.

— The New York Times