Joseph R. Kasper is a veteran Capitol Hill staffer, lobbyist, and government official with extensive experience in defense and national security policy. He holds degrees in political science and constitutional law from the University of Connecticut (Storrs) and began his career through a UConn internship program. Kasper served over 15 years on Capitol Hill, including as Chief of Staff to Rep. Darrell Issa, Deputy Chief of Staff, and senior staff to former House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman and Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), to whom he was a longtime aide. He later served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, involved in Pentagon operations until April 2025. His executive branch roles also included positions in the Department of Defense supporting the Secretaries of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force for more than two years, and service as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Senior Advisor for Strategy, Policy & Plans at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In the private sector, Kasper joined Ervin Graves Strategy Group (EGSG) as Principal in January 2021, was promoted to Managing Director of its government affairs practice in January 2022 (serving until September 2022), and was a registered lobbyist there representing multiple clients. As a central figure in Pentagon power struggles under Hegseth, he was implicated in the April 2025 firings of senior advisers Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll amid turf wars and was a key figure in the Pentagon leak investigation that led to Selnick's suspension. He faced April 2025 reports accusing him of creating a toxic workplace, derailing meetings with inappropriate stories about strip club visits and boasting about strippers, as well as ordering leak investigations at DoD involving polygraphs while himself facing an Inspector General probe. Kasper departed the Pentagon voluntarily in April 2025 to become a special government employee (limited to 130 days per year), planning a return to government relations and consulting.