Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submits resignation after clashing with Hegseth for ‘months’
Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin broke down the implications of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s resignation to President Donald Trump, the reported friction inside Pentagon leadership and the latest developments in the intensifying U.S.-Iran conflict on “America Reports,” including how the leadership change could affect U.S. military strategy and national security planning.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that Adam Telle, currently the assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, will serve as acting secretary of the Army.
“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,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“He is a Great Patriot, who is respected by all,” Trump added.
The announcement came after Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submitted his resignation to the president earlier this week.
President Donald Trump named Adam Telle acting secretary of the Army following Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s resignation. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Telle, who was nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate in 2025, has been overseeing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works program, a portfolio that includes flood and storm protection, commercial waterways and Clean Water Act permitting.
Before joining the Army Department, Telle was chief of staff to Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and served during Trump’s first administration as the president’s chief liaison to the Senate, leading the Senate team within the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.
Before that, Telle served on the Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee responsible for overseeing the Department of Homeland Security’s budget. He also spent 10 years in the office of former Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., where he served as deputy chief of staff, legislative director and the senator’s top national security staffer.
U.S. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump attend a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base for military casualties of the war with Iran July 22, 2026, in Dover, Del. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Telle is viewed as having strong relationships with senators on Capitol Hill, which could prove important as the administration works to confirm Army nominees stalled in the Senate.
The appointment fills a key leadership vacancy atop the nation’s largest military branch.
Driscoll’s exit came after he reportedly butted heads with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over the Army’s transformation and readiness, including Driscoll’s belief that Hegseth had hindered those efforts, News Outlet previously reported.
President Donald Trump announced that Adam Telle would become acting secretary of the Army “effective immediately,” calling him a “Great Patriot.” (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The outgoing Army secretary said Wednesday would be his “last full day” in the position, adding that serving under Trump and Hegseth had been “the honor of a lifetime.”
“I had the privilege of working with them to modernize and accelerate how the Army mans, trains, and equips the most lethal fighting force on the face of the earth,” Driscoll said in a statement posted on X.
“We could not have made the progress we did without the support of Secretary Hegseth,” he continued. “I am forever grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to once again serve my country.”
