The departure of US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who resigned from his post to President Donald Trump on Monday, brings a new wave of turmoil to the Pentagon, already shaken by internal conflicts and the dismissal of top military officials.
Driscoll, the highest civilian leader of the ground forces and an official immediately below the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon hierarchy, left his position with a sharp message about Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett's interference in the work of the largest branch of the US military, according to the Financial Times.
Driscoll, a close friend of Vice President J.D. Vance, believed Hegsett was causing “generational damage” to the Army, a source familiar with his views told the FT.
According to the source, Driscoll “tried many different ways and many times,” but eventually it became clear that Hegseth “wasn’t willing to listen to facts, truth, or reasonable arguments” due to personal animosity toward him.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Hegseth had seen Driscoll as a threat within the bureaucracy and had long wanted to remove him. However, according to the official, Driscoll's ties to Vance made it difficult for Hegseth to do so.
Driscoll gained more recognition outside the Pentagon when Trump selected him to participate in talks with Moscow and Kiev to end the war in Ukraine - an unusual diplomatic assignment for the secretary of the Army.
The crisis comes as the US tries to end a protracted conflict with Iran, which is straining American military resources and depleting ammunition supplies.
“This is a revealing moment and I think it shows that there is chaos in the Pentagon,” Tom Wright, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told the FT.
Hegseth has fired or forced out about two dozen generals and admirals since the start of Trump's second term. In April, he fired the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Randy George, which became a major point of contention between Driscoll and Hegseth.
Driscoll's departure leaves the Army without clear leadership in the midst of a war with Iran, at a time when it plays a key role in missile defense, thanks to the Patriot and THAAD systems. The conflict has also led to long-term deployments of thousands of American troops to the Middle East.
Although his resignation had been expected for weeks, critics saw Driscoll's departure as yet another indicator of the chaos and lack of clear direction in the Pentagon during Trump's second term.
“Driscoll seemed to be one of the few senior civilian political officials who was relatively sensible, enjoyed the trust of the soldiers and did his job really competently,” Christopher Meagher, a senior Pentagon official in the Joe Biden administration, told the FT.
He added that the absence of a permanent secretary of the Army and its chief of staff - positions that require Senate confirmation - represents "a serious leadership deficiency, especially in times of war."
Current and former Defense Department officials have described Hegset as a man plagued by paranoia, personal insecurity, and even jealousy, who becomes angry when public attention is focused on others, like Driscoll.
Driscoll, who was seen as a possible successor to Hegseth if Trump were to remove the defense secretary, has become the face of the Pentagon's efforts to increase its arsenal of cheaper drones and develop more advanced technologies for countering drones and missile defense.
Hegseth, for personal reasons, “tried to stall the transformation effort,” said a source familiar with Driscoll’s views. The Army, under Driscoll’s leadership, had tasked an infantry battalion with working on drone integration, but Hegseth ultimately ordered its disbandment.
While the Army has borne the brunt of Hegsett's changes, the Navy is also under pressure, facing budget constraints. Naval operations have been at the heart of Trump and Hegsett's military campaigns, from the Caribbean to Iran, further straining warships and depleting missile stocks.
Navy Secretary John Phelan was fired in April. On Tuesday, Trump nominated Hung Cao, acting Navy secretary and former Navy captain, to be his successor.
“Secretary Hegseth is the one who should resign after his mismanagement of military operations in the Middle East and around the world,” Jeanne Shaheen, a Democratic senator from New Hampshire and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told the FT.
"It is unthinkable that Secretary Hegseth would conduct a purge of top military officials at a time when the United States is in an ongoing conflict and security challenges are growing," Sahin added.
However, despite increasing pressure on the Secretary of Defense from within the Pentagon itself and among Republicans on Capitol Hill, Trump continued to defend Hegsett.
The president praised Hegsett when asked about speculation that the defense secretary, following his visit to Iowa, could run for president in 2028.
“He’s done a great job,” Trump said. “And right now, the only thing he loves and cares about is the military and taking care of the military.”
Elissa Slotkin, a Democratic senator from Michigan and a member of the Armed Services Committee, told CNN that Hegseth "has a one-man audience, and that's Donald Trump, and if anyone opposes him, undermines him or makes him look weak in any way, he gets rid of them."
“It really starts to feel like we’re in the middle of a never-ending purge,” Slotkin added.
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