Hegseth imposes his will on Army with Driscoll resignation

The resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll underlines how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is increasingly imposing his will on the Pentagon after nearly 20 months in the role.

Driscoll’s departure, which came sooner than expected, followed months of tensions with Hegseth , who has forced out or stalled the promotions of dozens of senior military officials in a campaign to overhaul the bureaucratic makeup of the Pentagon.

Since arriving at the Pentagon, Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer, has taken a particular interest in the Army, which now has no Senate-confirmed leader on the civilian or uniformed side of operations.

“He’s absolutely consolidating power and placing loyalists such as General LaNeve into positions such as acting Army chief,” said Kevin Carroll, a retired Army Reserve colonel, referencing Gen. Christopher LaNeve, whom Hegseth slotted as acting Army chief of staff.

Hegseth in April fired Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George, a move that unnerved some Republicans on Capitol Hill.

It left the Army in an “unusual condition,” according to Retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, who added that Driscoll’s resignation is “unfortunate, but expected,” given the secretary’s tangling with Hegseth over George’s removal in early April and the recent retirement of Gen. Chris Donahue, the commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa .

Army vice chief of staff Gen. James Mingus, who was in the role for less than two years, retired in October without explanation. In his place, President Trump and Hegseth selected LaNeve, Hegseth’s former military adviser.

The Pentagon is pushing to get LaNeve confirmed as Army chief of staff, but he has faced objections from senators on both sides of the aisle.

Montgomery, now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Hegseth is forcing unprecedented personnel changes that are leaving the Army weaker.

“I think Hegseth has weakened the Army’s readiness to deal with this significant shortfall, a shortfall that affected the joint forces’ ability to conduct major combat operations against Iran, and would create equal challenges if we had to fight with Russia, China or North Korea,” he told The Hill on Tuesday.

Hegseth is considering his senior adviser and Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell as Driscoll’s successor, The Hill first reported last week . Parnell has been in touch with the White House regarding the possible nomination in recent days, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill on Tuesday.

Carroll, who served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and on the Joint Staff, argued that Parnell could have a tough time getting confirmed. He pointed to Parnell’s withdrawal from a Senate run in Pennsylvania in 2021 after he lost a court fight over custody of his three children.

Driscoll, a former Army officer and venture capitalist, pushed the Army to modernize equipment, bolster living conditions for service members and have the military learn about drone warfare from Ukrainian forces.

Some of those efforts won bipartisan praise. Among the three service secretaries, Driscoll was doing the best job, a Democratic congressional aide told The Hill in April .

On Tuesday, Democrats and Republicans alike expressed unhappiness with his departure.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters he was “disappointed” to learn of Driscoll’s exit.

“I’m hearing the same rumors everybody else is: that he was frustrated with some of his top generals being released,” Rounds said , adding, “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee and has criticized Hegseth in the past , said the Constitution gives Hegseth the right to fire three- and four-star military leaders and block promotions, but it does not make it “morally right, and doesn’t make it wise.”

“I think most Americans want more decency, and I would say respect,” Bacon, a retired Air Force brigadier general, said Tuesday during his appearance on CNN. “Respect to say you should give a person a reason why if you’re going to fire them, and that’s not happening here.”

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was “concerned about the Pentagon” and “all of our military.”

“It seems that what they’re doing is anyone who has taken a firm oath of office to support and defend the United States of America their whole career, they’re being … pushed out by a man who was a Fox TV commentator that’s pushed into this position now and does not know, has nowhere near the knowledge and the ability of the general that is pushing out. Not even near,” Meeks told reporters Tuesday.

Meeks added that Hegseth is “the one who should resign.”

Those familiar with Driscoll’s approach to congressional matters argued his bipartisan appeal did not help in his battle for influence with Hegseth.

“One of the things that was an asset during his confirmation may not have been helpful to him in the long run, and that was that he had bipartisan support because he had preexisting relationships,” a former Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Driscoll’s resignation, told The Hill on Tuesday.

Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, waved off concerns about Driscoll’s departure.

“The tactical commanders are much more important as far as the here and the now and our ability to execute warfare on a foreign adversary, so I think we’re in good shape,” he told The Hill. “The Army’s been well prepared.”

McCormick also addressed Hegseth’s decision to block the promotion of four Army officers to one-star rank.

“From what I understand, there was concerns over them being political,” McCormick said. “We serve at the goodwill of the president.”

Hegseth recently blocked the promotion of the four Army officers, some of whom have links to George and Donahue, The Hill previously reported .

“His manipulation of the upcoming one-star list is completely inappropriate and possibly illegal, and I imagine that Driscoll wanted nothing to do with that,” Montgomery said Tuesday.

Other Republican lawmakers expressed their gratitude for Driscoll’s leadership.

Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) lauded the secretary late Monday as “a transformative leader who brought common sense and discipline” to the Army.

Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, commended the sense of “urgency” Driscoll brought to his role and noted the secretary’s efforts to modernize the Army.

“From Right to Repair to modernizing acquisition and putting more trust and capability in the hands of soldiers, Dan was willing to take on entrenched systems and challenge assumptions that had gone unquestioned for far too long,” Harrigan wrote late Monday, calling Driscoll “a friend.”

Helen Huiskes and Alexander Bolton contributed.