Senate confirms billionaire financier Feinberg as Pentagon’s No. 2
During Trump’s first administration, Stephen Feinberg headed the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, which gives private citizens access to classified information so they can provide advice about the inner workings of the Intelligence Community.
Nominee for Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen A. Feinberg listens to the opening remarks of a Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C., Feb. 25, 2025. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Madelyn Keech)
WASHINGTON — The Senate today confirmed billionaire financier Stephen Feinberg to be the Defense Department’s number two official, paving the way for the department to swear in the leader traditionally responsible for overseeing the Pentagons’ sprawling bureaucracy.
Feinberg’s nomination was cleared in a 59-40 vote this afternoon.
Feinberg is the third major Defense Department figure tapped by President Donald Trump to be confirmed by the Senate, following Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in January and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll last month.
A cofounder of private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, Feinberg told lawmakers during his Feb. 25 confirmation hearing that he had overseen the restructure of failing businesses and put them on the road to profitability — tactics he could apply to make the Pentagon leaner, more efficient and more financially accountable. He vowed to take a sharp look at acquisition reform, and indicated that he would be willing to cut legacy programs as the department looks to find 8 percent of its budget that it can redirect to top priorities.
At the time, Democrats largely pressed Feinberg on how he would implement the Trump administration’s stated plan to eliminate 5 to 8 percent of the Pentagon’s civilian workforce, a query that Feinberg said he could not yet answer definitively, adding that “without some turnover, you can’t become an efficient organization.”
He also dodged questions about whether Russia invaded Ukraine, telling lawmakers, “I don’t think some person who’s not informed on this, not involved in discussions, should make statements public that could undermine what the president and the secretary’s intent is.”
As a businessman whose holdings have reportedly included defense firms such as Navistar Defense, DynCorp and Stratolaunch, Feinberg has largely stayed out of the spotlight.
During Trump’s first administration, he headed the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, which gives private citizens access to classified information so they can provide advice to the president about the inner workings of the Intelligence Community.
Despite some lawmakers’ frustrations with Feinberg’s answers to questions on Ukraine, civilian workforce cuts and overall spending, his nomination was generally uncontroversial. However, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., raised repeated concerns about potential conflict of interests such as his ties to Ligado Networks, which is currently suing the Departments of Defense and Commerce.
