The Pentagon is planning to expand its deep-cover espionage capabilities as the Trump administration intensifies its economic competition with China and other strategic rivals, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, October 21, citing six people familiar with the initiative.
The proposed programme would deploy US intelligence operatives known as nonofficial cover officers (NOCs), who would pose as businesspeople or other private-sector personnel without disclosing their government affiliations. The initiative is intended to provide a clandestine intelligence component to Washington’s broader economic warfare strategy, according to the report.
However, the reported programme remains at the planning stage and is not operational, according to people familiar with the effort. The Pentagon has also disputed the report, creating a significant gap between the account provided by the newspaper’s sources and the department’s official position.
The initiative reflects a wider shift in US national security policy towards treating economic intelligence, strategic resources and technological competition as critical elements of the rivalry with Beijing.
CIA veteran reportedly overseeing covert intelligence plans
Tom Rakusan, a former senior CIA operations official who retired from the agency in 2021, is overseeing the reported planning effort as a senior adviser to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, The Washington Post reported.
Rakusan previously served as the CIA’s deputy director of operations, a senior position overseeing clandestine intelligence activities. He subsequently joined Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm co-founded by Feinberg, before following him to the Pentagon in 2025.
The planning effort reportedly involves experts from military service branches, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, and former CIA officials.
The programme’s organisational structure has not been finalised. It could become a separate deep-cover unit or expand the Pentagon’s existing capabilities for clandestine human intelligence collection, according to the report.
Nonofficial cover officers operate without the overt diplomatic or official credentials that can identify an intelligence operative as a government representative. Operating under civilian identities can provide access to commercial environments and networks, but it also exposes operatives to significant personal and operational risks if their identities are discovered.
The reported initiative would bring the Pentagon further into an area traditionally associated with the CIA, potentially raising questions about institutional responsibilities, intelligence oversight and coordination between US agencies.
The Washington Post reported that congressional committees did not appear to have been briefed on the initiative.
Economic warfare expands beyond tariffs and export controls
The proposed intelligence programme would complement the Trump administration’s broader use of economic instruments in its strategic competition with China. These include tariffs, export restrictions, investments in critical technologies and resources, and efforts to strengthen the US defence-industrial base.
Feinberg has also established an Economic Defense Unit within the Pentagon to pursue economic measures against strategic competitors. The unit’s stated objectives include deterring, denying and disrupting adversaries through economic means.
The reported deep-cover initiative would represent a more clandestine dimension of that strategy, potentially expanding intelligence collection related to foreign commercial interests and strategic economic capabilities.
However, the Pentagon has rejected the newspaper’s account. Deputy press secretary Jacob Bliss said in a statement to The Washington Post: “This query appears to be based on information that is simply not true.”
The newspaper reported that the CIA declined to comment, while Rakusan did not respond to a request for comment.
The conflicting accounts leave key questions unresolved, including whether the proposed programme will proceed, how it would be supervised and what legal and congressional oversight arrangements would apply.
For now, the reported initiative illustrates the growing intersection of economic policy and national security in US strategic planning, but it should not be treated as an established or operational espionage programme.
FAQs
- What is the Pentagon’s reported deep-cover spy program?
It is a proposed intelligence initiative that would use operatives posing as businesspeople or other private-sector personnel to support US economic and strategic competition with China and other rivals.
- What are nonofficial cover officers?
Nonofficial cover officers, or NOCs, are intelligence operatives who conceal their government affiliations and operate under civilian identities rather than overt official or diplomatic cover.
- Is the reported programme operational?
No. According to sources cited by The Washington Post, the initiative remains in the planning phase. The Pentagon has denied that the reported initiative is under way.
- Who is reportedly overseeing the planning?
Tom Rakusan, a former senior CIA operations official and current adviser to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, is reportedly overseeing the planning effort.
- Why is the Pentagon considering economic intelligence operations?
The reported initiative forms part of a broader strategy that treats economic competition, critical technologies, strategic resources and intelligence collection as elements of national security.
- Has the US Defence Department confirmed the program?
No. The Pentagon has disputed the report, with deputy press secretary Jacob Bliss saying the claims were based on information that was not true.