PentagonPolicy

Feinberg Vows to Spur Innovation as Deputy SecDef

The DoD shake-up continues. On Tuesday, Stephen Feinberg—Trump’s pick for Deputy Secretary of Defense—testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee and, over the course of a three-hour hearing, vowed to overhaul how the Pentagon operates. The billionaire investor, major Trump donor, and co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, a $65B fund known for turning around failing […]

PentagonPolicy

Cleaning House

The purge continues. On Friday, President Trump abruptly fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the decorated fighter pilot “is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family.” Trump nominated Air […]

PolicyTech

Three Years of War

In case anyone thought the war in Ukraine was over, well, it’s not. Yesterday, on the eve of the third anniversary of the war, Russia launched 267 attack drones towards the country in its largest attack to date. Ukraine managed to down or jam most of them, according to Kyiv, but damage was reported in […]

PentagonPolicy

DOGE Comes for the DoD

Welp. Looks like DOGE has indeed made it to the DoD. Elon Musk’s efficiency czars arrived at the Pentagon on Tuesday and asked for lists of all of the military’s probationary employees. (The services were given until EOD Tuesday to provide them.) While it was previously unclear whether military employees would be part of the […]

InvestmentPolicy

The State of European Defense Innovation

In case you missed it, Europe is reeling.  On a whirlwind tour of the continent last week, SecDef Pete Hegseth and VP JD Vance openly questioned the transatlantic security agreements that have underpinned European defense since WWII. Meanwhile, Trump is pushing forward with Ukraine peace talks that exclude Ukraine, along with all of Washington’s European allies. Then there was that hour-and-a-half-long call with […]

Policy

Big Bucks

So much for spending cuts. The Republican-led Senate Budget Committee pushed through its $340B budget reconciliation proposal yesterday, with $150B in additional funding for defense, even as a separate proposal moved its way through the House.  In terms of defense, the proposal focuses on: The budget resolution points to the threats posed by China, Iran, […]

PentagonPolicy

DOGE vs. The DoD

Less than three weeks into Trump’s second administration, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has descended on Washington. The organization—which doesn’t seem to be acting on legal authority—is shuttering USAID and encouraging career civil servants to leave the government. Some are calling it a “constitutional crisis.” Others are saying it’s Musk in “demon mode.” It likely won’t […]