Trump names new acting Army secretary after former chief Dan Driscoll suddenly quit amid Pentagon leadership turmoil

Donald Trump has named Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle the Acting Secretary of the Army, replacing the departing Dan Driscoll. 

Driscoll left earlier Thursday after he repeatedly clashed with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth over his tenure, appearing to burn bridges with Hegseth in a meeting with Trump on his way out. 

Trump made the announcement in a post to Truth Social on Thursday night.

‘I am pleased to announce that Adam Telle, the current Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, will become Acting Secretary of the Army, effective immediately. He is a Great Patriot, who is respected by all,’ he wrote. 

The President will still need to nominate a permanent person to replace Driscoll in the position.

Any nominee would require a majority confirmation by the Senate.

Telle is legally allowed to serve for 210 days as acting secretary, which means Trump would need to replace him by March 31, 2027.

Trump nominated Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao to serve in the role full-time earlier this week after fourth months as the temporary secretary.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Pentagon and the Army for comment.

According to a personal biography, Telle served as Chief of Staff to Tennessee Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, who congratulated him in a social media post. 

‘This is a critical position for our nation’s defense, and I can’t imagine a better leader for the world’s greatest warriors. He knows how to inspire, lead and equip the Army for success. Given the challenges we face today, Adam is the man for the moment,’ he said.

Telle has also served as Trump’s chief liaison to the Senate and was credited with working on the Abraham Accords and the authorization of Space Force. 

He will be overseeing the nation’s largest fighting force at a time when the U.S. is still engaged in conflict with Iran and significant Army forces are stationed in the Middle East. 

The war has significantly contributed to the U.S. military’s shortfall in critical weapons like the Patriot and THAAD defense missile interceptors systems, which are operated by the Army.

Driscoll said his last full day as US Army secretary was Wednesday, but his social media post offered no explanation for why he is stepping down after 18 months as the service’s civilian leader.

Tensions between Driscoll and Hegseth have been widely reported, and some of Driscoll’s allies in the Army were ousted this year by Trump’s Pentagon chief.

Driscoll spoke with Trump on the current state of the military before he submitted his resignation this week.

The Washington Post reported that Trump encouraged Driscoll to stay at least through the midterms.

The secretary met with Trump last week and unloaded his concerns about how the Secretary of Defense is managing the Army, The Atlantic reported.

Sources told the magazine that Trump was surprised by how many military leaders and generals were fired or forced out or denied promotions by Hegseth.

Trump was reportedly concerned by what Driscoll described as deep cuts to senior leadership in the Army and the force’s inability to complete a needed transformation. 

He ended the meeting by telling the President that he was set to resign.

A spokesperson for the White House disputed how the meeting was characterized.

Driscoll is a friend of Vice President JD Vance and has good relationships with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, with the Post even reporting he hopes to be involved with a potential Vance 2028 presidential campaign. 

His exit comes as the US military has returned to launching airstrikes against Iran after a lull in hostilities during the more than six-month-old war, leaving the nation’s largest fighting force without top civilian or uniformed leaders who have been confirmed by the Senate. 

It was not immediately clear who would fill Driscoll’s role at least temporarily.

Hegseth in April ousted the Army’s top uniformed leader, General Randy George, an ally of Driscoll. 

He has purged more than a dozen senior officers, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General CQ Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff General James Slife and the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse. 

General Christopher LaNeve took over as the Army´s acting chief of staff and recently pulled the plug on a drone modernization program that Driscoll had championed. 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter this week to Driscoll and LaNeve to express ‘deep concerns’ about eliminating the specialized drone unit and to request a briefing from the Army to explain its decision.

As Army secretary, Driscoll was a major force behind efforts to cut the red tape so military contractors could quickly develop more drones and counter-drone capabilities as modern warfare evolves.

Driscoll also was tapped last year for the unusual assignment of key negotiator to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly noted Driscoll’s role in those negotiations in Monday’s statement on his resignation, adding that Driscoll provided ‘outstanding leadership during historic military operations, restoring an emphasis on readiness and lethality.’

Both Republicans and Democrats have lamented Driscoll’s resignation, while some used it as an opportunity to criticize Hegseth’s leadership.

Any concerns were absent from Driscoll’s post on X late Tuesday night, which was his first public statement since the White House confirmed his departure Monday. 

Driscoll said it has been ‘the honor of a lifetime’ to serve as Army secretary under Trump and Hegseth.

He praised the soldiers, their families and the Army’s civilian workforce for helping ‘modernize and accelerate how the Army mans, trains, and equips the most lethal fighting force on the face of the earth.’ 

‘We could not have made the progress we did without the support of Secretary Hegseth,’ he added.

Besides George, Hegseth has fired more than a dozen top generals and admirals without explanation since he took office last year.

Sean Parnell, a senior advisor to Pete Hegseth in addition to his role as spokesman, is on the shortlist to take the top role in a dramatic shift of the chain of command, The Hill reported.

Parnell, 45, ‘has a deep bench of supporters throughout the Administration and has worked tirelessly to enable cultural change and accountability in the Pentagon,’ a Pentagon official said.

‘Leveraging his extensive combat and executive experience, he will bring the accountability, change, and engaged transformational leadership the Army so desperately needs at this time.’

An administration official told Time Magazine that Parnell remains hard at work at his current position. 

‘Sean Parnell is 100 percent focused on the job he was appointed to by President Trump and Secretary Hegseth.’

Parnell, a decorated former Army Ranger who led a platoon in Afghanistan, penned a memoir of his service in Afghanistan, which became a New York Times bestseller. 

In it, he described being in heavy combat during his tour in 2006 and 2007, and sustaining wounds that prevented him from returning to combat, describing dizziness, having difficulty with motion and becoming forgetful and unsteady on his feet. 

He also has written four action novels, and emerged as a regular guest on Fox News programs before running for Congress in 2020.  

He became a friend of Donald Trump Jr. and a favorite of Trump, even landing a coveted speaking slot at the 2020 Republican National Convention. 

Congressman Brian Mast, a Florida Republican and Army veteran who once volunteered for an Israeli nonprofit, packing medical bags used to treat civilians hit by indiscriminate Hamas rockets, has been reported by multiple conservative outlets as a potential candidate. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to both the Pentagon and the White House for comment.