Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is getting ready to leave the Trump administration after having had “months of tension” with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a new report says.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Driscoll is likely to resign before the year ends, maybe even sooner.
People who know about the discussions told the newspaper.
This upcoming exit will add another change to the Army’s top leadership.
Hegseth suddenly removed Army Chief of Staff Gen.Randy George in April, and Donald Trump has not yet named someone to replace him.Right now, Gen.Christopher LaNeve, who used to work as Hegseth’s top military assistant, is doing the chief of staff’s job on an acting basis.
One clue that Driscoll might be preparing to leave came this summer, when he and his family moved out of the official house for the Army secretary at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, according to the Journal.
Neither Driscoll’s representatives nor the Pentagon responded to the newspaper’s request for comment.
Even though there were reported tensions with Hegseth, Driscoll recently got a public endorsement from Trump, who said at a defense conference in Pennsylvania that Driscoll has a “beautiful smile but he’s actually a killer.”
Interestingly, an April report from the New York Post claimed Hegseth was getting more and more worried about being replaced by Driscoll.
The report, based on current and former administration officials, said Hegseth’s concerns about Driscoll’s position within Trump’s inner circle helped lead to George’s firing, along with the removals of Gen.
David Hodne and Maj.Gen.William Green.
At the time, a source told the paper, “Hegseth has been told by the White House he can’t fire Driscoll, at least for now,” adding, “So what Pete has been doing is targeting anyone he thinks is close to Driscoll.”
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