Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigns after clashing with Hegseth over firings

Daniel P. Driscoll submitted his resignation as secretary of the Army to President Donald Trump on Monday, 31 August, administration officials told the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The White House confirmed the departure on 1 September. Driscoll had held the post for about 18 months. He is 41. The Army, with more than 450,000 active-duty soldiers, now has no Senate-confirmed civilian chief and no Senate-confirmed chief of staff.

Driscoll met Trump in person last week and again when he handed in the letter. Four people familiar with the first conversation told the Atlantic that he laid out how many generals Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had fired, pushed out or passed over. Trump, they said, was surprised by the number. A White House official told Axios that Driscoll was asked to stay until after the midterms and declined.

Who left with him

Hegseth fired Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, in April without a public explanation. Gen. David Hodne, who ran Transformation and Training Command, and Gen. Christopher Donahue, who commanded U.S. Army Europe and Africa, are also gone. Gen. James Mingus, the vice chief, was among the officers Driscoll had worked with on a reform agenda. A source who spoke to Defense One said Hegseth's purge of those officers was the main reason Driscoll quit.

Navy Secretary John Phelan left in April. Hegseth has also removed the chief of naval operations and the Air Force vice chief of staff. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said Driscoll's record stood in contrast to what Reed called Hegseth's disastrous tenure. The White House statement given to CBS said Driscoll had been highly effective in advancing Trump's agenda and had given outstanding leadership during military operations.

The drone brief and the two wars

Trump once called Driscoll a disruptor and change agent. The former Army Ranger led a platoon in the 10th Mountain Division, graduated from Yale Law School and worked in investment banking. He is a friend of Vice President JD Vance, a Yale classmate. Some officials told Axios that Hegseth was suspicious of that friendship.

Driscoll's public brand inside the building was drones and what the Army called transformation. A drone program he backed was later rolled back. He also put in place a right-to-repair policy for Army equipment, a step that drew a rare kind word from a Democratic senator who had voted against his nomination.

The resignation lands while the United States is fighting an intermittent war with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz and still arming Ukraine. The Army supplies air-defense batteries, trainers and logistics for both efforts. Officials who spoke to the Times said Driscoll told Trump he was frustrated that Hegseth had blocked promotions of colonels who had worked for officers Hegseth disliked.

What the vacancy means

Filling a service secretary job in an election season is slow. The Army has already gone five months without a chief of staff. Acting officials can sign orders. They cannot give the service a confirmed voice in the tank when Hegseth sets force-management cuts or when combatant commanders ask for more air defense.

Hegseth's office referred questions to the Army. The Army did not give a public reason beyond the White House line. Driscoll is expected to leave the Pentagon in the coming days. Until a nominee is named, the largest U.S. service will run without the two posts that, on paper, speak for it.

The practical question for commanders is whether the next secretary will reopen the promotions Hegseth froze or accept the current bench. The practical question for Congress is whether the midterm calendar leaves room for a confirmation fight while two wars are using Army stockpiles.