WASHINGTON — The White House on Wednesday officially nominated Jules “Jay” Hurst to officially take on the role of Pentagon comptroller, according to a Congressional notification.
If the Senate approves his nomination, Hurst will be the first Senate-appointed comptroller since President Donald Trump was sworn into office for his second term in January 2025.
Hurst has been performing the duties of the Pentagon comptroller since August 2025, overseeing the rollout of the $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 budget request that places $1.15 trillion in the base budget request and an additional $350 billion proposed inside of a reconciliation bill.
“We put a lot of high priority things in [reconciliation] for a variety of reasons,” Hurst told reporters in April. “If we use mandatory spending… we have some more flexibility on when we obligate those funds. Number two, we did it for things that were kind of a one-time plus up that we really wanted to increase our funding of. And then finally, when there’s technology that’s changing quickly, like for Golden Dome or for the DAWG [Defense Autonomous Warfare Group], we try to put things there.”
“If we’re not successful in getting a reconciliation bill passed, then we’ll revisit that with the White House and Congress to approve our budget request,” he added.
Prior to taking that seat, Hurst performed the duties of both the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, as well as the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. He has also spent time on Capital Hill, where he served as a legislative director and defense advisor to Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La. and while also serving in the Army.
In May 2025, the White House tapped former GE executive Jeffrey Bornstein to take on the comptroller role, before withdrawing the nomination later that year.
