Josh Gruenbaum is an American government official and former investment banker who has served as Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) since January 2025. In this role, he oversees federal procurement and contracting policy, managing one of the central mechanisms through which the U.S. government purchases goods and services.
Gruenbaum was born in the early 1980s in New Jersey, where he grew up in an Orthodox Jewish community. He is the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, a family history that he has described as influential in shaping his moral outlook and public engagement. His early education included several years at a yeshiva before he transitioned to secular higher education.
He pursued dual graduate degrees at New York University, earning a Juris Doctor from the NYU School of Law and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business. Gruenbaum is admitted to the New York State Bar.
Gruenbaum began his professional career in finance, initially working in his family’s food importing business before entering investment banking. He joined Moelis & Company in 2016, where he worked in the restructuring group, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, and corporate turnarounds. He advanced to the position of vice president before leaving the firm.
In 2020, Gruenbaum joined the private equity firm KKR & Co., where he served as a principal and later as a director. His work centered on complex financial restructurings and special situations, and he also held board positions at several portfolio companies, including Belk, Galaxy Universal, PetWise, and Quoizel.
In January 2025, as part of the second Trump administration, Gruenbaum was appointed Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, a major component of the GSA responsible for coordinating procurement across federal agencies. His appointment marked his transition from the private sector to public service. As commissioner, he initiated a broad review of federal contracts and emphasized efficiency, cost-cutting, and oversight of large-scale government spending.
During his tenure at FAS, Gruenbaum became involved in federal policy initiatives addressing anti-Semitism, joining a multi-agency task force that examined the use of government contracts and grants as a regulatory tool. He argued that federal procurement could be used to encourage institutional compliance with civil rights standards.
Following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in late 2025, Gruenbaum’s public profile expanded into the realm of international diplomacy. He began working with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential advisor Jared Kushner. In early 2026, he was named a senior advisor to President Donald Trump and a diplomatic advisor to the newly formed Gaza Board of Peace. He participated in high-level meetings with foreign leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In February 2026, Gruenbaum was the subject of an internal review within the General Services Administration (GSA) concerning his communications with the fintech company Ramp during a federal contracting process. Gruenbaum contacted company representatives regarding their capacity to handle GSA business while the procurement process was ongoing, without making similar inquiries to competing bidders. Some GSA officials raised concerns that this could constitute preferential treatment or a violation of federal contracting regulations. The review, conducted by the agency’s deputy general counsel, examined whether his actions improperly influenced the bidding process for a $25 million pilot program connected to the government’s SmartPay system. Gruenbaum has denied wrongdoing, and administration officials stated that he had recused himself from the procurement decision.
As of 2026, Gruenbaum continues to serve simultaneously as FAS commissioner and senior presidential advisor, representing a prominent example of the Trump administration’s emphasis on appointing private-sector figures to senior government and diplomatic roles.
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