Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll resigns amid reported turf war with Pete Hegseth

WASHINGTON, DC: Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll has submitted his resignation to President Donald Trump and is set to depart his role at the Pentagon in the coming days following reports of long-simmering tensions with Pete Hegseth.

The youngest-ever Army Secretary, often referred to as Trump's "drone guy," met with the President in person to submit his resignation and discuss the current state of the Army, an official told the New York Times.

In a statement, the White House hailed the 41-year-old Secretary for being "highly effective" in advancing Trump's agenda "to Make America Strong Again" and providing "outstanding leadership" during military operations.

Driscoll’s departure from the Defense Department would leave the Army without a Senate-confirmed leader.

Driscoll’s resignation follows growing tensions with Pete Hegseth

The Army secretary had told confidants for months that he would leave the Pentagon around the midterm elections, according to two people and a U.S. official familiar with his thinking.

However, he moved up his departure amid growing tensions between him, Hegseth and Pentagon Chief of Staff Ricky Buria.

“Ricky and Pete made it so untenable for [Driscoll] that he felt it was best for not just him but for the people that he loved and respected in the Army to leave [to protect them from being] tormented because they were affiliated with him,” a Trump administration official told the New York Post.

A second US official said Hegseth and Buria had long claimed, without providing evidence, that the Army secretary was a leaker.

Meanwhile, a Pentagon official critical of Driscoll told The Post that he had “abdicated his responsibility to maintain effective civilian control of the Army” from the very beginning.

“Rather than aggressively implementing President Trump’s agenda, he was too cautious about disrupting the status quo and allowed himself to be sidelined by the generals, especially [former Army chief of staff] Randy George,” the official said.

Driscoll’s departure came amid a string of high-profile military leaders departing, including Navy Secretary John Phelan, who abruptly quit in April.

Other notable departures include Army Chief of Staff Randy George, Army Gen. David Hodne and Maj Gen William Green.

Daniel Driscoll’s decorated military and political career

Driscoll, who remains a close ally and friend of Vice President JD Vance, whom he met at Yale Law School, previously served in the Army and became an officer in 2007 before leading a cavalry platoon and deploying to Iraq for several months in 2009.

Tapped by Trump to be “a disruptor and change agent,” he oversaw operations, modernization and resource allocation for nearly one million active-duty, Guard and Reserve soldiers and more than 265,000 civilians.

He also served as a key negotiator in the Trump administration’s effort to end the war between Russia and Ukraine and was a major force behind efforts to cut red tape for military contractors to quickly develop more drones and counter-drone capabilities as warfare rapidly changes around the world.

Driscoll was confirmed by the Senate in February 2025 in a 66-28 vote, following a largely uncontentious Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.