Shortly after his first day at the Pentagon in early 2025, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll walked into his boss’s office with a proposal. Driscoll, a longtime friend and aide to Vice President J.D. Vance, offered to organize a visit by Vance and President Trump to meet with soldiers and discuss Army reform.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegers raised his voice, told Driscoll that Hegers was his charge and ordered Driscoll to stay in his lane, according to people familiar with the matter.
The meeting ended suddenly.
The encounter, which has not been previously reported, was an early episode in the tense relationship between the Pentagon chief and the Army secretary.
The tension spilled into the public eye on Thursday when Driscoll described to lawmakers his fondness for former Army top general Randy George. Heggs sacked On April 2, while Driscoll was on leave, he became Air Force chief of staff.
“I love General George too,” Driscoll told lawmakers at the hearing when asked about the four-star general’s sudden dismissal, calling him “an incredible leader of change.”
White House officials said Hegers has the trust of the president, who is pleased with his job running the Pentagon.
But the unusually public nature of the spat, coupled with the firing of a respected general during the war, has sparked new criticism of Hegseth’s leadership within the Pentagon and in some Trump circles. That raises questions about whether he is allowing personal vendettas to drive some decisions during a period of unprecedented military commitments around the world.
Retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, sharply criticized Hegseth’s decision to fire George.
“I can’t think of two things that I would rather not do than effectively strip the Army of its senior leaders in a wartime environment while trying to transform acquisition,” Montgomery said.
White House press secretary Anna Kelly praised Hegseth and Driscoll in a statement.
“With the help of leaders like Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Driscoll, President Trump has effectively restored focus on readiness and lethality across the entire force,” Kelly said.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said Hegers “has excellent working relationships with secretaries across the services, including Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.”
People familiar with Hegseth and Driscoll’s relationship say their relationship was fraught with tension from the start. Tensions increased that spring after an exchange over Driscoll’s proposal to organize a White House visit. beset by scandal Head of the Pentagon.
In March 2025, a reporter revealed that Hegseth released secret war plans In a Signal chat with top national security aides. The next month, three of Hegseth’s top aides were kicked out of the Pentagon after being accused of leaking classified information. Aides deny wrongdoing and have not been charged.
People familiar with internal discussions said Hegseth was worried that Trump was looking for Driscoll to replace him. Driscoll’s job was widely believed to be protected throughout the administration because of his close relationship with Vance, who attended Yale Law School with the Army secretary.
Almost immediately after taking office, Hegseth began targeting Army leadership, firing or ousting officers with ties to retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who had clashed with Trump.
Hegseth fired or sidelined several top Army generals, including Lt. Gen. Joseph Berger, the Army’s former top lawyer. Gen. Douglas Sims, former director of the Joint Staff; Lt. Gen. Joseph McGee, former director of strategy, plans, and policy on the Joint Staff; and Gen. James Mingus, former deputy chief of staff of the Army.
In November, Trump dispatched Driscoll to Ukraine to help the country negotiate a peace deal with Russia over the war. It’s an unusual assignment for a civilian leader because his job is to train and equip soldiers, not lead peace talks. That raised widespread questions within the Pentagon as to why Driscoll was chosen for the mission instead of his boss, Hegseth.
Hegers told colleagues he wanted the White House to exclude Driscoll from negotiations, according to several people familiar with internal discussions.
Soon after, Driscoll was temporarily removed from the high-profile role and many of his press events were canceled, people familiar with the matter said.
By early 2026, Driscoll and Hegseth were feuding again, this time over personnel matters. Hegers and his aides asked Driscoll to remove several service members, including Black and female officers, as well as Milley’s former spokesman, Col. Dave Butler, from a handpicked list of officers promoted to one-star generals, according to people familiar with the matter. Driscoll has repeatedly refused to remove the Army officer’s name from the list.
Hegseth called Driscoll into his office for a 15-minute meeting in early February, according to people familiar with the discussions. The encounter turned into a heated discussion that lasted more than an hour, during which Hegseth ordered Driscoll to fire Butler as the Army’s senior communications adviser. Butler’s firing was made public about a week later.
The friction came to a head when The New York Times reported on disagreements over promotion lists. Hegers and his aides suspected George of leaking the story and decided to ask for his resignation, according to people familiar with the matter.
Hegers fired George in a brief phone call on April 2 while Driscoll was on vacation with his family in North Carolina. Neither Army leader received any explanation or advance notice, according to people familiar with the matter. The call, which George received during a meeting at the Pentagon, lasted less than a minute, people familiar with the matter said.
Driscoll told lawmakers that he and his family drove directly from North Carolina to George’s home and the family “gave him a hug.”
“No one respects General George and his 42 years of service, his Purple Heart, his wife Patty, their grandchildren, their children. I adore them all,” Driscoll said.
Hegseth appointed his own former top military aide, Gen. Christopher Raneff, to replace George on an acting basis. Hegseth also fired two other senior Army officers: Gen. David Hodder, head of Army Transformation and Training Command, and Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., head of Army Chaplains.
Some Republican lawmakers praised Driscoll’s leadership of the military while deploring Hegseth’s treatment of George. “You are the right person in the right place at the right time,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.
Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., a retired Army National Guard colonel, said the former chief of staff was “an outstanding representative of our Army, and I also regret the fact and the conditions under which he was discharged, and I think our country also regrets the circumstances.”
In recent weeks, Hegseth’s chief spokesman Parnell told government officials that Hegseth had committed to Appoint him Secretary of War several people said after Driscoll left. Parnell denied the characterization, which was reported earlier by the New York Post, and said in a statement that he was “fully focused on my current role.”
Days after George was fired, Driscoll issued an unusual statement to The Washington Post.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve under President Trump, and I remain focused on providing the United States with the most capable land combat force in the world,” Driscoll said in the statement. “I have no plans to leave or resign as Secretary of the Army.”
He made no mention of Hegseth.
Write to Laura Seligman: lara.seligman@wsj.comMarcus Weisgerber marcus.weisgerber@wsj.com with Meredith McGraw on Meridith.McGraw@WSJ.com
