WASHINGTON\/NEW YORK – The White House has reviewed candidates to potentially replace Deputy Secretary of Defence Steve Feinberg, three people familiar with the discussions told Reuters, a sign that more leadership change could come for a Pentagon already facing unusually high staff turnover.<\/p>\n
The effort, which was under way in June, has included conversations with senior lawmakers in the Senate about whether the administration\u2019s picks would have enough support to be confirmed, said two of the people, one of whom added that the review was still going on as of late August.<\/p>\n
Reuters could not determine when the White House began considering candidates.<\/p>\n
The three sources said no decision had been made to remove Feinberg from his post.<\/p>\n
They did not say why the White House was reviewing potential replacements and did not specify which candidates the White House was considering.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese so-called anonymous \u2018sources\u2019 have no idea what they are talking about,\u201d said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump appreciates the work of Secretary Hegseth, Deputy Secretary Feinberg, and the entire Department of War, whose record of success in Operation Epic Fury, Operation Absolute Resolve, and Operation Midnight Hammer speaks for itself,\u201d she said, referring to US military operations in Iran and Venezuela.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon denied a process was under way to replace Feinberg.<\/p>\n
Asked for comment by Reuters, Hegseth said in a statement that Feinberg has his full support and \u201cisn\u2019t going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pentagon did not provide a comment from Feinberg and declined to make him available for an interview.<\/p>\n
A departure by Feinberg, the billionaire co-founder of private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, would be the most senior staff change for a department that has already seen a string of high-profile departures under Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned this week<\/a> following months of tension with Hegseth, according to a source familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n The Army has declined to comment on the reasons for his departure.<\/p>\n Navy Secretary John Phelan<\/a> and several senior Army leaders have also departed in recent months.<\/p>\n Feinberg, who vowed to accelerate US munitions production, has not yet met that goal, according to analysts who say that the US industrial base cannot ramp up quickly.<\/p>\n Some defence industry executives say his task has been complicated by the slow pace of Congress appropriating funds despite immense pressure from the administration.<\/p>\n Feinberg \u201chas worked tirelessly to rebuild our Defence Industrial Base and ensure our military has everything it needs to win, and I look forward to continuing to work with him,\u201d Hegseth said in his statement to Reuters, adding, \u201cHe\u2019s doing a tremendous job for President Trump, for the Department, and for our warfighters.\u201d<\/p>\n Frustration over Iran war<\/p>\n Trump has increasingly expressed frustration with the lack of progress in the six-month-old Iran war, which has settled into a costly stand off between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n One of the costs has been a drawdown of US weapons stockpiles.<\/p>\n