Members of the military attend a meeting convened by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Quantico, Virginia, U.S., September 30, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Politico’s Daniel Lippman says the wife of a Pentagon chief has abandoned her lavish job lobbying the Defense Department after calls from reporters.
“Jill Buria, who is married to Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff Ricky Buria, recently started at Checkmate Government Relations and registered as a lobbyist for federal data management contractor Cartridge Technologies, also known as CTI,” reports Politico. “Jill Buria was among four other Checkmate colleagues lobbying the Defense Department on ‘issues regarding navigating the Pentagon’s acquisition process,’ according to a Sunday filing.
Politico adds that Cartridge paid Checkmate $110,000 last quarter.
In October, Jill Buria registered as one of two lobbyists for IT and cybersecurity company Pantheon Data, which is using Checkmate for lobbying. But Jill Buria was a relatively new face in the federal lobbying industry, reports Politico, having never registered as a federal lobbyist before, according to a lobbying records search.
“She joined Checkmate last month after spending eight years at Deloitte, most recently as a senior manager, and has previously worked for the Marine Corps Community Services,” Politico reports. “[But] Checkmate managing partner Ches McDowell told Politico Influence then that she would ‘be a great asset for all of our clients.’”
Neither Jill Buria or Ricky Buria responded to requests for comment. And McDowell told Politico Influence that the lobbying record would be amended to show that Buria would not lobby the Pentagon, and that it was “an administrative error.” He claimed Buria had never lobbied the Pentagon.
McDowell then attacked “sexist” Politico reporters for covering the story.
“She is an accomplished professional with significant experience in government contracting and consulting,” he said in a statement. “She should not be defined by her husband’s job. Doing so discredits her as a professional and is borderline sexist.”
Meanwhile, Politico reports Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that Ricky Buria has fully recused himself from the Defense Department’s involvement with his wife’s clients, and that he “is in full compliance with all ethical laws and regulations.”
The revelation and subsequent reversal come at a precarious time for the administration of President Donald Trump, when the White House is racked with allegations of corruption and self-enrichment. Most recently, the Wall Street Journal released texts suggesting former ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle allegedly asked for $100,000 to cover her credit card debt from a man she was helping lobby the administration. Trump and his family have directly generated billions from an industry that Trump himself deregulated before his windfall.
Additionally, Trump's pursuit of personal profit while in office is not only upsetting activists; a number of polls have revealed voter outrage at the perceived corruption. Now one of Trump's former top advisers agreed that this has become a serious political problem for the president.