Dan Driscoll, the US Army Secretary, will step down in the coming days after the White House accepted his resignation amid alleged tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, NBC News reported.
Last week, Driscoll privately disclosed to his close associates in the government that he intended to step down by Labor Day. He visited the White House to discuss his future in the administration, according to the publication. However, what decisions were made at the meeting were unknown.
Rumours of Driscoll's exit had circulated for months, particularly after Hegseth dismissed Army Chief of Staff Gen Randy George earlier this year. Driscoll, confirmed as Army Secretary in February 2025, is reportedly close to Vice President J D Vance and is seen as one of the few Pentagon officials respected across party lines.
Reuters cited a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying that Hegseth had long seen Driscoll as a threat within the Washington DC bureaucracy and had wanted to get rid of him, but the latter's closeness to the vice president made this a challenging task.
In a rare diplomatic task for the US Army Secretary, Driscoll had gained prominence beyond his role when US President Donald Trump appointed him to participate in talks with Russia and Ukraine to end the war that had been ongoing since 2022.
This is the latest in a series of high-profile personnel to depart the Defense Department since the war with Iran began on 28 February this year. Earlier in April, John Phelan, the US Navy Secretary, and General Randy George, the Army chief of staff, were pushed out of their positions.
The official Reuters spoke to revealed that after George's firing, Driscoll was caught off guard, which led to his increased frustration with the War Secretary.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the resignation of Driscoll.
Anna Kelly, the White House spokesperson, praised Driscoll in a statement issued on Monday, saying, “Secretary Driscoll has been highly effective in advancing President Trump’s agenda to Make America Strong Again at the Department of the Army by providing outstanding leadership during historic military operations, restoring an emphasis on readiness and lethality, assisting with negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and more.”
Driscoll had been pushing the US Army to be more nimble in buying cheaper weapons. and has slammed large weapon makers, saying last year, “(The) defense industrial base broadly, and the primes in particular, conned the American people and the Pentagon and the Army.”
