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The White House has reviewed candidates to replace Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, Reuters reported Friday, citing three sources familiar with the discussions, signaling another possible senior shake-up at a Pentagon already grappling with high turnover.
The review, underway since June, has included conversations with senior senators about which nominees could secure confirmation, two sources said. One source said it was still ongoing as of late August.
Reuters could not determine when the White House began considering replacements. The sources said no decision had been made to remove Feinberg and did not say why possible successors were being reviewed or identify any candidates.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly rejected the report, saying the anonymous sources “have no idea what they are talking about.”
She said U.S. President Donald Trump appreciated the work of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Feinberg and the department, citing Operation Epic Fury, Operation Absolute Resolve and Operation Midnight Hammer in Iran and Venezuela.
The Pentagon also denied that a replacement process was underway. Hegseth told Reuters that Feinberg had his full support and “isn’t going anywhere.” The Pentagon did not provide a statement from Feinberg or make him available for an interview.
Feinberg, the billionaire co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, would be the Pentagon’s most senior departure if he left.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned this week after months of tensions with Hegseth, according to a source familiar with the matter. The Army has declined to explain his departure. Navy Secretary John Phelan and several senior Army officials have also left in recent months.
Feinberg has pledged to accelerate U.S. munitions production, though analysts say the U.S. industrial base cannot expand quickly enough and that the goal has not yet been met. Defense industry executives have also cited the slow pace of congressional appropriations despite administration pressure.
“Feinberg has worked tirelessly to rebuild our Defense Industrial Base and ensure our military has everything it needs to win,” Hegseth said, adding that he was doing “a tremendous job” for Trump, the department and U.S. forces.
Trump has increasingly expressed frustration over the six-month-old Iran war, which has settled into a costly U.S.-Iran standoff.
Reuters has reported significant shortages of some U.S. munitions, alarming Congress and military leaders, though Trump has rejected those concerns and said the U.S. has “far more munitions than anyone in the world.”
The Washington Post reported that during an exchange with Trump at Camp David earlier this month, Hegseth blamed Feinberg for declining stocks of long-range guided missiles and air-defense interceptors.
The White House called the report “fake news,” while Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth “did not mislead anyone about our munitions posture, and he did not blame Deputy Secretary Feinberg.”
Trump appointed Feinberg last year.
Feinberg has sought to reshape Pentagon policy by expanding direct U.S. military investments in companies and loans to defense contractors through offices including the Office of Strategic Capital and the newly created Economic Defense Unit.
In an Aug. 18 memo to defense companies reviewed by Reuters, Feinberg urged contractors to accelerate production and provide greater pricing transparency. The Pentagon did not respond to a question about the memo.
Feinberg has also faced scrutiny from Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren over whether his former firm, Cerberus, could benefit from Pentagon spending on the Golden Dome missile defense program.
“There are no conflicts of interest between Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg and Cerberus,” Parnell said, adding that Feinberg had fully divested from Cerberus and recused himself from Executive Branch discussions or business involving the firm.
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