On Sunday night, President-elect Trump disclosed numerous new nominees for senior Pentagon positions, including his nomination for the second-ranking civilian position in the Defense Department.
In a Truth Social post, Trump announced that he was appointing a “slate of America First Patriots” to collaborate with his nominee for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth. This slate includes investor Stephen Feinberg as the next deputy secretary of defense.
Trump wrote that Feinberg would “assist in the restoration of the Pentagon’s greatness.”
He also mentioned that the “extremely successful businessman” graduated from Princeton University before establishing the investment firm Cerberus Capital Management in 1992.
Feinberg, a billionaire who endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign, is currently the co-CEO of Cerberus. Trump was the head of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board during his first term.
This board is responsible for providing the commander-in-chief with independent advice on the efficacy of the intelligence community.
The deputy secretary’s primary responsibility is to oversee the Pentagon’s budget, collaborate with the defense industry on programs and innovation, and oversee the day-to-day operations.
Feinberg’s nomination is anticipated to be subjected to scrutiny on Capitol Hill due to his lack of experience in managing one of Washington’s largest agencies, which is responsible for the supervision of approximately three million military and civilian personnel.
Additionally, conflict of interest concerns are anticipated as a result of Cerberus’s investment in defense firms that specialize in hypersonic missiles.
Trump selected Elbridge “Bridge” Colby as his nominee for the position of undersecretary for policy, Michael Duffey as the undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, Emil Michael as the undersecretary for research and engineering, Keith Bass as the assistant secretary for health affairs, and Joe Kasper as the chief of staff for the secretary of defense in a series of additional Truth Social posts on Sunday.
Elbridge is most renowned for his role as a main architect of the 2018 National Defense Strategy, a document that emphasized the importance of deterring and defeating China.
Additionally, he has been vocal in his advocacy for Taiwan to allocate additional funds to its defenses.
Duffey, on the other hand, was instrumental in the endeavor to halt $250 million in military aid for Ukraine during Trump’s first term, while serving in the Office of Management and Budget.
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