THE EXPERIENCED HEAD OF A CRITICAL OFFICE that helps organize important technical research and disburse billions of dollars in funding for the U.S. Navy is being replaced by a 33-year-old former DOGE employee with no apparent naval experience.
Rear Admiral Kurt Rothenhaus was recently removed from his post as chief of naval research, the top post at the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and replaced by Rachel Riley, a former partner at McKinsey & Company and Rhodes Scholar recipient who has been serving since January in a DOGE-related roles inside the Trump administration.
The move, which was described to us by two officials familiar with the matter, was confirmed by both the administration and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“Usually the head of Naval Research is a very senior member of the military or the senior executive service with an extensive experience in technology, science, engineering,” Kelly, a former naval aviator and NASA astronaut, said in a brief interview. “That’s the kind of person we put in that job. So I think it’ll be important to see—and I don’t have a lot of information on this nominee’s background—but I do know it’s somebody rather junior who came from the world of DOGE.”
A spokesperson for Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) did not provide comment on the personnel change. But the Navy did,