The White House has looked at possible people to take over the role of Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg, according to three people who know about the talks.This suggests there may be more changes in leadership at the Pentagon, which has seen a lot of staff leaving recently.
This effort was happening in June, and the White House had talks with top Senate lawmakers about whether the people they were considering would have enough support to get approved.
Two of the people who spoke to Reuters said the review was still going on as of late August.Reuters couldn’t find out when the White House started looking for new candidates.
The three sources said there was no decision yet to remove Feinberg from his position.
They didn’t say why the White House was looking at replacements or who they were considering.
A White House spokesperson, Anna Kelly, said, “These so-called anonymous ‘sources’ don’t know what they’re talking about.” She also said President Trump values the work of Secretary Hegseth, Deputy Secretary Feinberg, and everyone at the Department of Defense, pointing to military operations in Iran and Venezuela as examples of their success.
The Pentagon said there was no process to replace Feinberg.
When asked by Reuters, Secretary Hegseth said in a statement that Feinberg has his full support and “isn’t going anywhere.” The Pentagon didn’t provide a comment from Feinberg and didn’t make him available for an interview.
If Feinberg were to leave, it would be the biggest staff change at the department, which has already lost several high-profile people under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned recently after months of conflict with Hegseth.The Army didn’t explain why he left.Navy Secretary John Phelan and several senior Army officials have also left in recent months.
Feinberg promised to speed up U.S.
munitions production, but analysts say the U.S.industrial base can’t ramp up quickly.Some defense executives say his job has been difficult because Congress hasn’t been moving quickly with funding despite pressure from the administration.
Hegseth said in a statement to Reuters, “Feinberg has worked hard to rebuild our Defense Industrial Base and make sure our military has what it needs to win.
I look forward to continuing to work with him.” He added, “He’s doing a great job for President Trump, the Department, and our warfighters.”
Trump has shown frustration with the lack of progress in the Iran war, which has turned into a costly standoff with Iran.
One of the costs has been a reduction in U.S.weapons stockpiles.Reuters reported that the U.S.military is running low on some munitions, which has worried Congress and military leaders.
Trump has dismissed these concerns, saying the U.S.
has “far more munitions than anyone in the world.” However, during a meeting with Trump at Camp David, Hegseth blamed Feinberg for the drop in long-range missiles and air defense interceptors.The White House called the report “fake news.” Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell said, “Secretary Hegseth didn’t mislead anyone about our munitions situation, and he didn’t blame Feinberg.”
Feinberg, who was appointed by Trump last year, has tried to change the Pentagon by increasing the U.S.
military’s direct investments in companies and giving loans to military contractors through offices like the Office of Strategic Capital and the newly created Economic Defense Unit.
In an Aug.
18 memo to defense companies, Feinberg asked them to speed up production and be more transparent about prices.The Pentagon did not respond to a question about the memo.
Feinberg has also been questioned on Capitol Hill.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren raised concerns about whether his former company, Cerberus, could get benefits from the Pentagon’s spending on the Golden Dome missile defense program.
Parnell said, “There are no conflicts of interest between Deputy Secretary Feinberg and Cerberus.
He has completely sold out of Cerberus and is not involved in any conversations or business with the executive branch and Cerberus.”
Cerberus did not respond to a request for comment.
H/T: Navy Times
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