The Army now has zero Senate-confirmed leaders, civilian or military, after Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned following months of open warfare with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Driscoll submitted his resignation to President Trump and is expected to leave in the coming days, the Wall Street Journal reported. The move capped a bitter feud with Hegseth over the Army’s direction.
His departure leaves the service in an unprecedented leadership vacuum, the report added. Gen. Christopher LaNeve has been serving as acting chief since Hegseth abruptly fired Driscoll’s close ally, Gen. Randy George, without explanation.
The White House put a rosy spin on Driscoll’s exit, crediting him with strengthening the Army under Trump’s leadership.
“The United States Army is more powerful than ever thanks to his work alongside the Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of War,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.
That framing glosses over the turmoil behind the scenes. Driscoll and George had worked closely together preparing the Army for drone-dominated modern warfare, and Driscoll had also played a lead White House role in Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations. But Hegseth’s mounting distrust of senior Army leadership, and his firing of George in a 15-second phone call earlier this year, left Driscoll increasingly isolated and barely on speaking terms with his own boss.
Until now, Driscoll had denied any plans to resign.
Driscoll’s exit adds to a growing pattern of Hegseth purging or sidelining the Army’s most experienced leadership. Hegseth has now fired or forced out at least a half-dozen senior officers, shrinking the Army’s four-star general ranks from 10 down to just five — the fewest in decades — even as the service faces its busiest operational period since Iraq and Afghanistan, defending U.S. troops from Iranian missile attacks in the Middle East and supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
With no confirmed civilian secretary and no confirmed chief of staff now running the Army simultaneously, critics warn the leadership gap couldn’t come at a worse time, leaving the service to navigate an increasingly dangerous global landscape without anyone in permanent, Senate-vetted command.
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