White House Nominates Jules Hurst for Pentagon Comptroller

The White House on Wednesday nominated Jules Hurst to serve as Pentagon comptroller, according to a Congressional notification. If the Senate confirms the nomination, Hurst would become the first Senate-appointed comptroller since President Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025.

Hurst has performed the duties of the position since August 2025. 15 trillion in the base budget and $350 billion proposed in a reconciliation bill.

Hurst told reporters in April that certain items were placed in the reconciliation portion to gain flexibility on spending timing and to fund one-time increases. He also cited rapidly changing technology programs such as Golden Dome and the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group as reasons for using that mechanism.

"We put a lot of high priority things in [reconciliation] for a variety of reasons," Hurst said. "If we use mandatory spending... " Hurst added that if the reconciliation bill is not passed, the administration would revisit the budget request with the White House and Congress.

Before serving as acting comptroller, Hurst performed the duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs and Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. He previously worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative director and defense advisor to Rep. , and served in the Army.