Washington DC - Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reportedly failed to give the White House a heads-up before he authorized a recent pause on weapon shipments to Ukraine for their ongoing conflict with Russia.

Five sources told CNN that Hegseth's failure to do so caught national security officials off guard, and set off "a scramble inside the administration to understand why the halt was implemented and explain it to Congress and the Ukrainian government."

On Tuesday, when President Donald Trump was asked during a cabinet meeting who authorized the pause, he appeared to confirm he wasn't responsible for it, responding, "I don't know, why don't you tell me?"

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made it clear that Trump has chosen "to continue providing defensive weapons to Ukraine to help stop the killing in this brutal war, which the Pentagon has said they are actively working on."

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Leavitt added that "the President has full confidence in the Secretary of Defense."

This is the second time Hegseth, who has faced numerous scandals since taking on the role, authorized a pause on weapons to Ukraine without approval, also doing so in February, which the administration quickly reversed.

Several of the sources told CNN they believed it happened because Hegseth "has no chief of staff or trusted advisers around him that might urge him to coordinate major policy decisions better with the interagency partners."