Sean O'Keefe
Pentagon Deputy Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness since September 2025.
Sean O'Keefe defended the Pentagon's late-August 2026 removal of a checkbox for never-resident US citizens from two overseas voting forms, writing that the old versions 'may confuse voters'; National Public Radio reported the change on 30 September.
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Sean O'Keefe
Pentagon cuts a box from overseas forms
US Midterms 2026Background
Sean O'Keefe is the Pentagon's Deputy Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness; the department's own biography styles the post Deputy Under Secretary of War. He has defended in writing a late-August 2026 change by the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which removed a checkbox for US citizens WHO have never lived in the United States from two overseas voting forms.
He wrote that the old forms 'may confuse voters about The Information they are required to provide under Federal law'. The Pentagon's position is that states can still process any form carrying the required information, older versions included.
The Senate confirmed him on 18 September 2025 by 51 votes to 47, and he was sworn in on 25 September 2025. Before that he was a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, covering personnel and readiness.
Why did the Pentagon change the overseas voter forms?
Can overseas voters still use the old Federal Post Card Application?
Who is Sean O'Keefe at the Pentagon?
