Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll has submitted his resignation to the White House and is expected to leave the Pentagon within days. This follows months of tensions between Driscoll and self-styled “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth, which included friction over Driscoll’s deployment to Russia-Ukraine negotiations last November. More recently, they reportedly feuded over firings Driscoll strongly disagreed with, including that of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George. With Driscoll’s departure, the Army “will lack top Senate-confirmed civilian or military leaders,” The Wall Street Journal reported. Gen. Christopher LaNeve has served as acting chief of the service since Hegseth fired George in April. Mike Obadal, the Army undersecretary, will be the highest-ranking civilian after Driscoll departs.
According to a report in The Atlantic, Driscoll brought his concerns about what Hegseth is doing to the Army to a White House meeting last week. Trump was surprised when Driscoll told him how many generals and other top officers had been fired, pushed out, or passed over for promotion under Hegseth, one of four people familiar with the conversation told the magazine. “Driscoll argued that the Army could not transform itself the way it needs to, because of the departure of so many leaders, this person said, adding that Trump expressed concern about the deep cuts to the Army’s senior leadership,” reported The Atlantic.
