White House considered candidates to replace deputy Pentagon chief in the US
In the United States, the White House considered candidates who could potentially replace Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg. The Japan Times reported this, citing three people familiar with the discussions.
According to two sources, in June the administration discussed with senior lawmakers in the Senate whether potential candidates would have sufficient support for confirmation. One of them said that as of the end of August, the consideration was still ongoing. At the same time, all three sources said that no decision had been made to remove Feinberg from his post. They did not name the reasons why the White House was considering a possible replacement and did not specify the names of the candidates.
White House and Pentagon denials
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly rejected the information from anonymous sources, saying that they do not know what they are talking about. She added that President Donald Trump appreciates the work of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Feinberg, and the entire defense department.
The Pentagon also denied that a process was underway to replace the deputy defense secretary. Hegseth said that Feinberg has his full support and is “not going anywhere.” The department did not provide a comment from Feinberg himself and declined to arrange an interview with him.
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Personnel changes and ammunition production
Feinberg’s possible departure would be the highest-level personnel change at the department during Hegseth’s tenure. According to a source cited by the publication, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned this week after several months of strained relations with Hegseth. The US Army did not comment on the reasons for his departure. In recent months, Navy Secretary John Phelan and several senior Army officials have also left their posts.
Feinberg, a co-founder of investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, promised to accelerate production of US ammunition. Analysts cited by the publication believe that the US defense industrial base cannot rapidly increase output. Defense industry representatives also link the difficulties to Congress’s slow allocation of funds.
In an August 18 memorandum to defense companies, Feinberg called on contractors to speed up production and ensure greater pricing transparency. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren raised questions about Cerberus’s possible benefit from Pentagon spending on the Golden Dome missile defense program. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said that Feinberg had fully divested from Cerberus and recused himself from discussions or business dealings between the executive branch and the company.
