Acting CFO to leave DOD

Larry Lanzillotta has been hired by Northrop Grumman.

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"Forced Absence"

Acting Defense comptroller and chief financial officer Larry Lanzillotta will be leaving the Defense Department later this month to take a position at Northrop Grumman Corp.

Lanzillotta has been DOD's top money man since longtime comptroller Dov Zakheim, who has since joined Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., left the agency in April.

A Defense spokesperson confirmed that Lanzillotta's last day will be July 16. The spokesperson did not know who would take over as acting CFO, but said the CFO's office "has contingency plans in place." Possible successors include Wayne Schroeder, deputy undersecretary of Defense for resource planning and management, and David Norquist, deputy undersecretary of Defense for financial management.

President Bush earlier this year nominated Tina Jonas, former deputy undersecretary of Defense for financial management and current CFO and assistant director of the FBI's finance division, to replace Zakheim. But Jonas' Senate confirmation, along with at least 10 other Defense nominees, is being upheld by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has concerns about an Air Force tanker lease deal with Boeing Co.

The Defense spokesperson did not know what the status of the confirmation hearings is and directed all questions about the matter to the Senate.

A Northrop Grumman spokesperson could not confirm which division Lanzillotta will be working in, nor in what capacity.