The deputy secretary, a position now held by Kathleen Hicks, is the second-highest-ranking civilian in the Pentagon, with the primary responsibility of “managing the defense budget and executing the priorities of the secretary of defense.”
A longtime partner at Thiel’s Founders Fund and co-founder and Executive Chairman at Anduril, a defense industry company with myriad government contracts, Stephens is an influential player at the intersection of venture capital and defense tech. To say that being in charge of the defense budget could pose a potential conflict of interest, would be an understatement.
Previously, he worked for Thiel’s Palantir Technologies, which for years has received contracts from across the federal spectrum, including the Department of Defense, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security.
Despite myriad controversial efforts behind ethically questionable military technologies like AI-powered military targeting, Anduril and Palantir are among defense tech’s cream of the crop thanks to VC funding, especially Thiel funding, with Palantir now reporting record profits and Anduril amassing a hefty $1.5 billion in Series F fundraising in August.
More: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trae-stephens-trump/
Kelley