Pete Hegseth seems to be winning his fight to control the Defense Department, at least in the assessment of Politico, which, along with the media outlets, portrayed the resignation of Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll as a major victory for Hegseth. According to Politico, Driscoll wanted to transform the Army into a modern, tech-oriented force, but Hegseth made that almost impossible. In his final months as Army Secretary, Politico reports, Driscoll “found his efforts to champion a leaner force with a lighter footprint challenged by Hegseth and the new acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who focused on gearing the Army toward grooming and fitness standards, according to Politico’s sources. And that, coupled with the resignation of well-regarded top generals, led Driscoll to head to the White House and deliver his resignation to Trump.”
Driscoll’s modernization plans included developing drone capabilities based on lessons from the Ukraine war. Those plans are now on hold. But at least right now, Hegseth seems to have the upper hand. Trump is “very high on Pete right now,” a senior White House official said.
But Hegseth faces a difficult road to getting replacements in place. LaNeve faces opposition to his confirmation on Capitol Hill after the surprise ouster of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George angered officials.
Sen. Thom Tillis, Republican from North Carolina, is actually calling on Trump to fire Hegseth over what he called Hegseth’s “inept management” of the military. “Dan was the right man at the right moment to lead our Soldiers and Army civilians,” he wrote on X on Wednesday. In eight years on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Tillis wrote that he had “never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country” as that of Hegseth. “He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force.”
Tillis concludes by urging Trump “to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it.”
