Army secretary Dan Driscoll resigns

What's happened

Dan Driscoll has resigned as US secretary of the Army after 18 months in the post, following reported months of clashes with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Driscoll had raised concerns about Army transformation and readiness and opposed Hegseth's firings of senior officers. His exit leaves the Army short of permanent civilian and uniformed leadership during an ongoing conflict with Iran.

What's behind the headline?

What happened

Dan Driscoll has resigned as secretary of the Army after 18 months in office. He has been at odds with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over personnel decisions and the direction of Army modernisation. The White House has praised Driscoll’s leadership; congressional Democrats and some Republicans have warned the departures are harming Pentagon stability.

What is actually driving the departures

• Personal and institutional power struggles are driving the churn. Hegseth is asserting control over senior promotions and operational priorities; Driscoll is pushing acquisition and drone programmes. Those priorities collide when Hegseth revokes or blocks leaders who back Driscoll’s reforms.
• Political shelter has been uneven. Driscoll’s ties to Vice President JD Vance have limited Hegseth’s ability to remove him earlier, but that protection has eroded as friction intensified and as Driscoll publicly defended fired allies.

Immediate consequences

• The Army will lack permanent civilian and Senate-confirmed uniformed leadership. That will reduce institutional continuity for budgeting, acquisitions and overseas deployments while the Iran war continues.
• Modernisation programmes Driscoll championed, especially drone work, will likely be deprioritised or paused as acting leaders reset to "core" missions.

Medium-term forecast

• Expect further personnel turbulence. Hegseth will consolidate authority and install loyalists who will narrow procurement choices and emphasise conventional readiness over rapid tech acquisition.
• Congress will increase pressure. Lawmakers from both parties will force hearings and demands for briefings, which will slow policy decisions and reallocate oversight time away from operations.

Why it matters

This will weaken the Army’s ability to pursue both near-term operational needs in the Middle East and longer-term transformation at the same time. The change will force slower procurement, more political oversight and a likely shift back toward traditional force structures.

How we got here

Driscoll, an Iraq War veteran and close ally of Vice President JD Vance, was confirmed in February 2025 to push Army modernisation, including drone programmes. Tensions with Hegseth have produced a string of senior departures, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in April, and a rollback of some modernisation efforts.

Our analysis

The initial report of Driscoll’s resignation was published by The Wall Street Journal and was repeated across outlets. Axios reported that Driscoll had recently spoken with the president and "expressed his concerns about the state of the Army," and said a White House official described the moment as simply "Sad." Axios also reported that Driscoll and Gen. Randy George had supported an Army Transformation Initiative to merge Futures Command and TRADOC and cut legacy platforms; Axios noted friction with Hegseth over promotions and the removal of advisors. The Independent and AP cited a White House statement from spokeswoman Anna Kelly praising Driscoll: "Secretary Driscoll has been highly effective in advancing President Trump's agenda ... restoring an emphasis on readiness and lethality, assisting with negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and more." The Independent and Reuters coverage quoted sources saying Driscoll had "brought up concerns" about Hegseth blocking transformation by firing generals; The New Arab and Arab News repeated those claims and published criticism from Sen. Jack Reed saying the departures reflect "lasting harm that Pete Hegseth is inflicting on the Department of Defense." Several outlets — The Times of Israel, Al Jazeera and AP — emphasised that the Army has already seen major upheaval, noting Gen. Randy George's ouster in April and other senior exits. These accounts converge on the same facts: Driscoll has close ties to Vice President JD Vance, he pushed drone modernisation, he clashed with Hegseth, and his departure intensifies leadership gaps during the ongoing Iran conflict. Readers can consult Axios for reporting on internal conversations and The Independent and AP for the White House statement and wider context.

Go deeper

• Who will lead the Army on a permanent basis and when will a nominee be announced?
• How will Congress respond with hearings or legislation on Pentagon stewardship?

More on these topics

• Pete Hegseth - United States Secretary of War

  Peter Brian Hegseth (born June 6, 1980) is an American government official and former television personality who has served since 2025 as the 29th United States secretary of defense. Hegseth studied politics at Princeton University, where he was the publi

• JD Vance - American author

  James David Vance is an American author and venture capitalist. He is best known for his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, about Appalachian values and their relation to the social problems of his hometown, which attracted significant media attention during the 201

• Ukraine - Country in Europe

  Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast.

• Russia - Country

  Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Covering an area of 17,125,200 square kilometres, it is the largest country in the world by area, spanning more than one-eighth of the Earth's in

• United States Army - Service

  The United States Army is the land warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.

• White House - Official residence and office of the President of the United States

  The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 when the national...

• Donald Trump - 45th and 47th U.S. President

  Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

• United States - Country in North America

  The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country mostly located in central North America, between Canada and Mexico.

• Anna Kelly - Irish journalist (1891-1958)

  Anna Kelly (8 January 1891 – 14 June 1958) was an Irish journalist and the first women's page editor in Ireland.

• The Wall Street Journal - Newspaper

  The Wall Street Journal is an American business-focused, English-language international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese.

• Navy - Military branch involved in naval warfare

  A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a state's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includes anything conducted by surface ships, amphibious ships, submarines, and seaborne aviation, as well as ancillary support, communications, training, and other fields. The strategic offensive role of a navy is projection of force into areas beyond a country's shores (for example, to protect sea-lanes, deter or confront piracy, ferry troops, or attack other navies, ports, or shore installations). The strategic defensive purpose of a navy is to frustrate seaborne projection-of-force by enemies. The strategic task of a navy also may incorporate nuclear deterrence by use of submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Naval operations can be broadly divided between riverine and littoral applications (brown-water navy), open-ocean applications (blue-water navy), and something in between (green-water navy), although these distinctions are more about strategic scope than tactical or operational division.

• Yale Law School - Law school of Yale University

  Yale Law School (often referred to as Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1824, it has been the top-ranked law school in the United States by U.S. News and World Report every year since.

• North Carolina - US State

  North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. North Carolina is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the 50 United States.

• Iran (Islamic Republic of Iran) - Country in the Middle East

  Iran, also called Persia, and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia and Azerbaijan, to the north by the Caspian Sea, to the northeast by Turkmenistan, to the east by Afghanistan a