Army Secretary Driscoll struggles to survive wild west Pentagon

Who is Dan Driscoll? 

A North Carolina native and Iraq War veteran, Dan Driscoll quickly rose to prominence after being nominated, then confirmed as Army Secretary in February 2025 — thanks in part to his Yale law school friendship with Vice President J.D. Vance.

In his current role, Driscoll has pushed to speed up the Pentagon’s weapons acquisition programs, and modernize the military technologies warfighters use — earning him a reputation as Trump’s “drone guy” early in his tenure. Driscoll has also worked to better soldiers’ lives with initiatives including “Just Pick Up,” a new suicide prevention strategy that commits military leaders to daily check ins with soldiers during the holiday season.

Reporting from outlets including The Hill, Axios, and Washington Times suggests that Driscoll’s trustworthiness and likeability have helped his star quickly rise to the top of the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and beyond. Last fall, Politico reported that trust in Driscoll’s ability to deliver diplomatic messages, landed him at the heart of the Ukraine war negotiations, despite no previous diplomatic experience.

Hegseth dials turf war to 11

But Driscoll is in the crosshairs, according to numerous recent reports. Fearing Driscoll’s growing influence, Hegseth ordered him to pull out from the Ukraine war talks last year, according to reports.

Meanwhile, Hegseth has pushed at least 15 DoD leaders out of key roles since Trump was inaugurated in January 2025, in many cases opening up spaces for his own allies in the E-Ring.

A remarkable such casualty has been Army Chief of Staff Randy George, whom Hegseth fired earlier this month while Driscoll — who refused to do it for him — was away on family vacation. Driscoll and George previously clashed with Hegseth over his decision to block several Army officers from becoming one-star generals.

The reshuffling finds Hegseth allies, including Chris LaNeve, tapped to be George’s replacement, and Hung Cao, now acting Secretary of the Navy, on the ascent.

Hegseth’s “got his people in the right positions,” a former defense official with knowledge of the situation, told RS on the condition of anonymity. “He's come out on top.”

Excessive Pentagon staff turnover has landed Hegseth in hot water with some Senate Republicans, however. They are especially frustrated with the departure of George, who was generally well regarded.

“Just because you're firing people doesn't mean you're consolidating [power],” a national security expert with knowledge of the situation, who also spoke under the condition of anonymity, cautioned. “It could just be that you're firing good and necessary people, and you're flailing even harder.”

Will Driscoll duck out? 

So far, Driscoll’s ties to Vance have seemingly shielded him from Hegseth’s fire. But Navy Secretary John Phelan’s ouster last week, suggests this may no longer be the case.

As Monica Duffy Toft, a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute, tells RS: “Phelan was a Trump donor, fundraiser, and political ally. That did not save him.”

An official told the Atlantic early this month that Driscoll would leave his role “soon.” Moreover there has been chatter that Driscoll may leave his role to support J.D. Vance’s 2028 campaign, although it is unclear when that would happen. For his part, Driscoll told the Washington Post earlier this month he has “no plans to depart or resign as the Secretary of the Army.”

But he is playing defense. According to the Washington Post, Driscoll asked Vance to intervene last fall in his rift with Hegseth; it’s unclear whether Vance did so. The Atlantic reports Trump does not know Driscoll well, leaving the Army chief without a relationship he could leverage.

If Driscoll “wants to keep the job, he should lower his profile, stop diverging from Hegseth in public, and let the [media] leaks dry up,” Toft told RS. “If he wants to carry out his agenda, he should do the opposite. He should use the [political] protection he has now [from his link to Vance] to lock in [his] transformation initiatives, promotion lists, and budget commitments before the protection runs out.”

“He cannot do both. He has to pick,” she stressed.

Otherwise, an exit may prove the safest way for Driscoll to preserve his reputation, rather than risk being fired.

“If unable to shore up [high-level] relationships, or know satisfactorily that they are healthy, I would probably consider an exit with honor [if I were Driscoll],” the national security expert told RS. “Just in terms of saving face.”

Will Pentagon turmoil hamper the Iran war effort?

“It’s not really a comfortable time to be in the Pentagon, or to be a senior military officer right now,” the former defense official told RS. “People are on pins and needles, and concerned and worried about who to talk to… it's not a great climate.”

This is all happening while the military is currently prosecuting a war with Iran in the Persian Gulf. A full host of military assets including tens of thousands of U.S. troops are in the region for Operation Epic Fury. Despite rosy predictions two months ago and a supposed ceasefire, there is currently no end in sight.

In fact, questions about the Pentagon’s wartime decision-making have reached the highest levels of the administration. Reports indicate there is a serious depletion in stockpiles and concerns that the president is not getting the true picture from Hegseth.

As Toft tells RS: “You cannot run a war and a purge on the same calendar.”

“Continuity of judgment at the top of a fighting service during active operations is not a nice-to-have,” Toft explained. “It is the difference between escalation control and an accident no one wanted.”