Dan Driscoll served as the United States Secretary of the Army, the senior civilian leader responsible for the daily administration, operation and management of the United States Army, for approximately 18 months.
Nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, this non-Cabinet official operates under the direction of the secretary of Defense.
On Monday, following months of tension with War Secretary Pete Hegseth over the direction of the service and the ouster of many senior Army officers, Driscoll submitted his resignation to President Donald Trump.
Though he does not know how Hegseth and Driscoll got along in the office, Bob Maginnis, president of Maginnis Strategies LLC, says, "Obviously, there was a lot of tension."
Hegseth has reportedly grown paranoid over Driscoll's close White House ties, but Maginnis does not find the fact that Driscoll went over and talked to Trump, perhaps without Hegseth's knowledge, surprising.
"That's how things are done in Washington," he says.
He thinks it came down to Hegseth digging into Army's business.
"Pete came up through the National Guard as an Army guy, and he thinks of himself as a warrior and that the Army was his home," the analyst notes. "It's probably some institutional jealousy. I don't know that for a fact, but I can certainly kind of deduce that that's part of what's going on here."
Still, Maginnis questions the timing of Driscoll's resignation.
"For Dan to have resigned in the midst of ongoing conflict is problematic," he says. "It leaves the Army without a secretary that's confirmed."
Driscoll will temporarily be replaced by Under Secretary of the Army Mike Obadal due to statutory succession laws and his positive relationship with the Pentagon's top leadership.
Obadal is serving strictly in an interim, acting capacity because under the U.S. Constitution, a permanent service secretary cannot simply be appointed by the Department of Defense. President Trump must formally nominate a permanent replacement, who must then be vetted and confirmed by the Senate.
While Hegseth has the authority to recommend Obadal for the permanent job, Pentagon insiders report that the administration is widely expected to nominate a different loyalist for the position, with Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell frequently named as a likely long-term candidate.
