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Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll’s resignation — the latest in a string of firings and forced departures from the top tier of the U.S. military — has exposed a level of dissension with the senior ranks of the Department of Defense that has become alarmingly frequent and consistent.
When considered against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s extended war with Iran — a conflict that has depleted American weapons stockpiles, exhausted some U.S. forces and distracted the country from paying attention to China, Russia and Europe and modernizing the nation’s critical capabilities and industrial base — the perceived disarray should leave Congress, allies and Americans concerned.
Driscoll is the latest and among the highest ranking of the two dozen or so Defense Department leaders to be fired or forced out under Trump in 18 months. In most cases, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team has declined to make public any reason for the leadership bloodbath. But a raft of reporting has detailed disagreements with the Trump administration ranging from racial diversity to wartime policy and perceptions of outright political loyalty.
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