Driscoll's expected departure would leave Army without Senate-confirmed civilian leader

Driscoll traveled to Ukraine to brief Zelensky on peace talks

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is expected to step down from his role by the end of the year, if not sooner, after months of tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to people familiar with the discussions.

His departure would leave the Army without a Senate-confirmed civilian leader. The Army has had an acting, rather than Senate-confirmed, chief of staff since April, when Hegseth fired Gen. Randy George without explanation and installed Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army vice chief and formerly Hegseth’s senior military aide, as acting chief of staff. President Trump has not nominated a replacement.

Spokesmen for the Pentagon and for Driscoll declined to comment.

Driscoll and his family this summer moved out of the government house reserved for the Army secretary at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, a military post adjacent to Arlington Cemetery where several top defense officials live, the people familiar said.

During his 18 months as Army secretary, Driscoll formed a close partnership with George. Together, the two pushed the Army to adopt new technology, seeing it as the future of warfare. They also traveled to Ukraine together with Gen. Chris Donahue, the Army’s former top general in Europe, so Driscoll could talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about peace negotiations.

Driscoll encouraged the service to act more like the Ukrainian military in finding ways to use commercial technology on the battlefield. Under his tenure, private companies have pledged to spend more than $25 billion on building data centers, critical mineral refineries, and dining facilities on Army bases across the country.

Hegseth’s April firing of George and installation of LaNeve drew criticism from Republicans in Congress and praise for Driscoll. Asked about George’s dismissal during a hearing, Driscoll told lawmakers, “I, too, love Gen. George,” calling him “an amazing, transformation leader.”

Driscoll, a former Army Ranger, received praise from Trump at a defense conference in Pennsylvania last month.