Trump sends two Pentagon research and engineering office nominations to Senate

President Trump last week sent nominations for the officials he hopes will fill two roles under Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael's research and engineering office -- one a familiar face and another who could be the first Senate-confirmed person to hold the title.

The president tapped James Mazol, who served as acting under secretary of defense for research and engineering until Michael assumed the office in late May, to return to the Pentagon as Michael’s deputy.

President Trump also nominated James “Jim” Caggy of New York to serve as an “assistant secretary of defense (new position),” according to the July 1 announcement. A defense official confirmed to Inside Defense today that Caggy was nominated to serve as assistant defense secretary for mission capabilities.

The role is relatively new but was established in a July 2023 memo from then-Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks. Thomas Browning, former director of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s adaptive capabilities office, previously held the role in an acting capacity from July 2023 until January 2025.

If he gets the green light from the upper chamber, Caggy would be the first Senate-confirmed official to hold the role.