Ankara: The secretary of the US Army has submitted his resignation to US President Donald Trump after months of friction with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the army's future direction and the removal of several senior officers, according to US media reports. Dan Driscoll is expected to depart the Pentagon within the next few days.
According to Anadolu Agency, Driscoll eventually brought his concerns regarding the service's future directly to the US president, a move that underscored the severity of the internal rift. The report claimed that Trump was "surprised" and "expressed concern" when the outgoing secretary detailed the volume of combat-hardened leaders fired or passed over for promotion during Hegseth's tenure. Driscoll reportedly argued that the force "could not transform itself the way it needs to" due to the exodus of senior command, as the army now has fewer generals than at any point in recent history.
Following Driscoll's resignation, the army will be without a Senate-confirmed civilian or military leader. Gen. Christopher LaNeve has been serving as acting chief of the service since Hegseth dismissed his predecessor, Gen. Randy George. Hegseth did not warm to Driscoll while they worked at the Defense Department, but Driscoll's friendship with US Vice President JD Vance offered some protection, according to Axios.
Their tensions were partially rooted in Hegseth's alleged attempt to remove four officers - two Black men and two women - from a promotions list after Driscoll refused, The New York Times reported. In February, multiple outlets reported that Hegseth forced out one of Driscoll's senior advisers, Col. David Butler, a former spokesperson for Trump foe Gen. Mark Milley. Fox News reported that Driscoll resisted pressure to fire Butler.
Friction between Driscoll and Hegseth peaked over the firing of Gen. Randy George in April, followed by Gen. Chris Donahue shortly after. Some lawmakers have expressed concern about the number of vacancies in armed forces leadership, especially as the US war with Iran just passed the six-month mark.
A major sign of dysfunction cited in The Atlantic report involved LaNeve reportedly "bypassing Driscoll" to seek operational decisions directly from Hegseth. Although Army Undersecretary Michael Obadal is expected to assume the role in the near term, many Pentagon officials fear the administration may nominate current Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell as a permanent replacement, according to the report.
Critics noted that Parnell shares Hegseth's "pugilistic spirit" but lacks experience managing large organizations and would likely face a difficult confirmation battle in the US Congress. A defense official warned that replacing Driscoll with a political loyalist could inflict "generational damage" on the Army's institutional health. Neither the White House nor the Pentagon immediately reacted to the report.
Driscoll, nicknamed 'drone guy' for his work on military modernization, rose rapidly in the Trump administration after being nominated to be army secretary. As the army's civilian leader, he oversaw its annual budget and more than 1 million active-duty, National Guard, and reserve soldiers, as well as over 330,000 civilian employees.