Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has come out swinging following reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is itching to fire him and replace him with a close ally.
There’s been friction between Driscoll, who is a close friend of Vice President JD Vance, and Hegseth for at least a year, dating back to when the defense secretary was facing several scandals and Driscoll’s name was being floated as a possible replacement.
In the fall, Trump sidelined Hegseth and sent Driscoll to Kyiv to play a leading role in talks to end the war in Ukraine. The White House has also made it clear that despite their differences, the defense secretary must keep Driscoll in his post for now.
Unable to fire Driscoll, Hegseth has instead resorted to ousting the Army secretary’s allies, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, fueling speculation Driscoll could be next. Sources told the Post that tensions ran so high Driscoll even asked Vance to intervene last fall, though it’s unclear if he ever did.
Driscoll has now made clear he has no plans to leave his position at the Pentagon, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
“Serving under President Trump has been the honor of a lifetime and I remain laser focused on providing America with the strongest land fighting force the world has ever seen,” he told the Post in a statement. “I have no plans to depart or resign as the Secretary of the Army.”
The White House also backed Driscoll in a statement, saying Trump has “effectively restored a focus on readiness and lethality across our military with the help of leaders like Secretary Driscoll.”
Hegseth’s spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that the defense secretary “maintains excellent working relationships with the secretaries of every military service branch, including Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.”
The Daily Beast has also reached out to the Department of Defense for comment.
Numerous sources have said that Hegseth wants to replace Driscoll with Parnell, who unlike the current Army secretary has championed Hegseth’s disdain for the media and his prioritizing of culture war issues within the military.
George was reportedly forced to retire last week at age 61 after he and Driscoll defied Hegseth and refused to remove two Black and two female officers from a list of military members to be promoted to one-star generals, citing the officers’ long and exemplary service.
Most of the other 29 officers on the list for promotion are white men, leading senior military officials to question whether the officers in question were singled out for their race or gender.
As of last week, Hegseth had blocked or delayed promotions for more than a dozen Black and female senior officers across all four branches of the military, NBC News reported.
One of Hegseth’s top aides, Ricky Buria, also reportedly chastised Driscoll for promoting Maj. Gen. Antoinette Gant to take command of the Military District of Washington, saying Trump wouldn’t want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events.
Speaking to the Daily Beast, Buria called that reporting “completely false.”
“Whoever placed this made-up story is clearly trying to sow division among our ranks in the department and the administration,” he said.
According to the Post, George and Hegseth also clashed over a stunt involving a military helicopter doing a flyby outside MAGA rocker Kid Rock’s home.
The Army suspended the pilots and opened an investigation into the incident, which Hegseth quickly shut down.
George, who spent more than 40 years in the Army, favored letting the investigation play out.
