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A handful of high-profile conservative influencers have reportedly been working as undisclosed government employees and using their huge social media followings to praise Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and defend the Trump administration’s policies.
Among them are Rob Maness, a retired Army Air Force colonel with more than 130,000 followers on X, and Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel with more than 600,000 followers on X, according to the Washington Post.
Maness and Schlichter have active government email addresses ending in “.civ” – meaning they are civilian employees – and are assigned to the Defense Department’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness, sources told the Post.
Yet neither influencer has disclosed that they are working for, or did work for, the Pentagon, the Post reported. Even while they were advocating for Hegseth to fire critics at the department, backing Trump’s military actions in Venezuela anddefending the Defense Secretary’s spending on a luxury dinner.
Much of the influencers’ rhetoric aligns with Hegseth’s goal to reshape the military and restore “warrior ethos” by ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs, heightening physical fitness standards, creating stricter grooming standards and more.
It’s unclear whether the influencers are being paid with taxpayer dollars and what work they are doing under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Getty)
It’s unclear if Maness, Schlichter, and other influencers like them, are being paid with taxpayer dollars or what work they are doing for the government.
The Independent has asked the Pentagon for comment.
Sources told the Washington Post that the influencers are assigned as “special government employees” or “highly qualified experts.”
Special government employees can only work in the government for 130 days of the year. Other prominent Trump allies, such as Elon Musk, have been given the same status to conduct official work.
Highly qualified experts are people who can work part-time or full-time with or without compensation.
Rob Maness, a retired Air Force colonel, has reportedly been serving in a temporary government role while pushing pro-Trump rhetoric online (Department of Defense)
Schlichter appears to be designated an “HQE” in a database seen by the Washington Post.
The new revelations come days after an online spat between another administration ally, Jennica Pounds – also known as DataRepublican on X – and the Defense’s undersecretary for public diplomacy led to the revelation that Pounds was also working with the Pentagon.
Pounds, who has nearly 1 million followers on X, accused the undersecretary for public diplomacy of tricking her into leaking sensitive information. Though it was actually intended to be a scoop.
Pounds then disclosed that she began working for the Pentagon as a temporary “special government employee” in July “to serve the country in a more hands-on way.” Pounds previously held a Pentagon press credential, which expired in June.
Pounds did not elaborate on what kind of work she has been doing under the temporary special government employee status.
Thomas Anderson, another retired Army colonel and conservative influencer who has amassed more than 320,000 followers on X under the name Cynical Publius, also recently disclosed he was given special government employee status with the Pentagon earlier this year.
Among his priorities as defense secretary, Hegseth has sought to address cultural issues such as diversity, equity and inclusion policies – something championed by conservative influencers online (AFP/Getty)
Anderson said the Defense Department invited him to serve as a special government employee on a task force after he wrote an article in February about military service colleges. He said his status as a special government employee ended in July.
“At no time have I ever received any compensation of any kind from any government source of any kind for anything I write or have written on X or in any magazine or other source,” Anderson posted on social media.
While Anderson said he had not been paid, the recent revelations about the other conservative influencers’ work have raised questions about their lack of disclosure while promoting the Defense Department and the administration’s policies.
Former congressman Adam Kinzinger, a Trump critic, asked: “How many more blue-check ‘independent’ accounts pushing pro-Trump talking points are on the federal payroll right now?”