Trump announces picks for deputy secretary of defense, other top DOD posts

President-elect Donald Trump announced a slew of selections Sunday for key Pentagon positions, including deputy secretary of defense and undersecretaries for the acquisition and sustainment, research and engineering and policy directorates.

Trump’s pick for deputy SecDef, billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg, is the co-founder, co-CEO and chief investment officer for global investment and private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. He has a net worth of approximately $5 billion, according to Forbes. Unlike many previous nominees for the Pentagon’s No. 2 position, Feinberg has no prior experience working at the Defense Department.

He served as chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board — which assesses the performance of the U.S. intelligence community, including IC activities, organizational structure, management and personnel, and makes recommendations for improvements — during Trump’s first term. He’s also donated to organizations supporting Trump’s presidential campaigns.

In a statement, the president-elect described Feinberg as an “extremely successful businessman” who will “help Make the Pentagon Great Again.”

If his nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Feinberg would be set to play a key role in shaping the U.S. military’s modernization efforts.

The deputy secretary historically has had a strong hand in managing DOD’s sprawling enterprise as well as shaping high-level resourcing and policy decisions. In recent years, that person has also spearheaded major modernization initiatives. For example, Kathleen Hicks, who has been serving in that post during the Biden administration, launched the Replicator initiative last year to accelerate the fielding of cutting-edge drones and autonomous systems.

Feinberg’s career path includes decades of experience as an investor.

Cerberus describes itself as “a global leader in alternative investing with approximately $66 billion in assets across complementary credit, private equity, and real estate strategies.” The firm’s venture investing platform, Cerberus Ventures, “seeks to partner with entrepreneurs and companies building technologies to accelerate innovation in areas critical for the public and private sectors,” according to a recent press release.

The organization has previously invested in companies that do contracting work for the Defense Department.

For example, earlier this year Cerberus announced that it acquired Calspan’s hypersonic and defense test systems business units from TransDigm Group, and formed North Wind, which was described in a press release as “an independent business centrally focused on the advancement of the United States’ hypersonic test capability through ground-based facility design, build and operations, testing, and analysis.”

Cerberus has also hired former senior DOD officials.

Last year, retired Gen. John “Jay” Raymond — who served as the first-ever chief of space operations after the Space Force was established during the first Trump administration — joined the firm as a senior managing director on its “Supply Chain and Strategic Opportunities” platform.

Prior to co-founding Cerberus, Feinberg managed pools of capital for Gruntal & Co. He also previously worked at Drexel Burnham Lambert, according to his Cerberus bio.

Trump’s selection of Feinberg isn’t the first time that he’s tapped a business executive without previous Pentagon employment experience to serve as the department’s No. 2. During his first term, he picked longtime Boeing exec Patrick Shanahan to take that role.

The Washington Post first reported Feinberg as Trump’s preference for the deputy SecDef position in his second term.

On Sunday, the president-elect also announced his picks for other key posts that will shape U.S. military modernization.

He selected Michael Duffey, who has previously held a number of government roles, to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. As head of the A&S directorate, Duffey would be the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer.

Duffey previously served as associate director of national security programs in the Office of Management and Budget during the first Trump administration. He also has Pentagon experience, having held the posts of deputy chief of staff to the secretary of defense and chief of staff to the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, among other roles, according to his bio on the website for the United Coalition for Advanced Nuclear Power, where he has held the position of treasurer.

“Mike has been a strong advocate for our Warfighters and the American Taxpayer throughout his many years of public service,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will drive change at the Pentagon and, as a staunch proponent of an America First approach to our National Defense, will work to revitalize our Defense Industrial Base, and rebuild our Military.”

The president-elect also announced that he chose businessman Emil Michael to be undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. The R&E chief plays a key role in fostering next-generation military capabilities and overseeing critical technology areas for the Pentagon’s research-and-development enterprise, including trusted AI and autonomy; space; integrated sensing and cyber; integrated network systems of systems; renewable energy generation and storage; microelectronics; human-machine interfaces; advanced materials; directed energy; advanced computing and software; hypersonics; biotech; quantum; and FutureG wireless tech.

Michael was chief business officer at Uber, the ridesharing company, from 2013 to 2017. He has also been president of Technology Advisory and Consulting Services, chief operating officer of Klout, and special assistant to the secretary of defense, among other positions he’s held, according to his LinkedIn bio.

“Emil has lived the American Dream by building several successful Tech companies, including Uber,” Trump said in a statement, adding that he will “ensure that our Military has the most technologically sophisticated weapons in the World, while saving A LOT of money for our Taxpayers.”

Meanwhile, author and former senior DOD official Elbridge “Bridge” Colby was selected by Trump to be undersecretary of defense for policy. Colby served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development during the first Trump administration, where he helped develop the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which prioritized great power competition with China and Russia.

Colby subsequently penned the book “Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict.” He’s called for focusing U.S. military efforts on countering China in the Indo-Pacific and devoting fewer resources to conflicts in other regions.

In a statement, Trump described Colby as a “highly respected advocate for our America First foreign and defense policy,” adding that he will be expected to work closely with the next secretary of defense “to restore our Military power, and achieve my policy of PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”

Their nominations must be confirmed by the Senate.

On Sunday, Trump also announced that he chose Keith Bass to be assistant secretary of defense for health affairs and Joe Kasper to be chief of staff for the secretary of defense.

Last month, the president-elect announced that he wanted Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator and author who previously served in the Army National Guard, to be his defense secretary. He’s also tapped Daniel Driscoll to be secretary of the Army and John Phelan to be secretary of the Navy.

Additional picks for other top Pentagon posts are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.