U.S. Secretary of Defense (Department of War) Pete Hegseth is creating internal conflict by successively dismissing military generals even during the war with Iran. As hostilities with Iran enter their eighth week, he dismissed the Army Chief of Staff and removed senior generals from their duties. Questions are emerging as to whether this is aimed at keeping Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, who has emerged as Hegseth's rival, in check.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 19th (local time), Secretary Driscoll expressed his admiration for former Army Chief of Staff Randy George to members of Congress on the 16th of this month. Hegseth dismissed former General George, who had 38 years of military experience, earlier this month, and Driscoll gave the impression that he did not care. Secretary Driscoll said, "I respect former Chief George, who is a remarkable transformative leader."
Dismissing the Chief of Staff while the U.S. and Iran are engaged in hostilities is unusual. At the time, Hegseth reportedly did not give advance notice of the dismissal to Secretary Driscoll, who oversees the Army. Mark Montgomery, a retired Navy Rear Admiral and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, pointed out, "Dismissing senior Army leadership and bringing in other personnel during wartime is incomprehensible."
Hegseth, who took office in January of last year, has repeatedly clashed with Driscoll. The Washington Post (WP) reported that shortly after taking office, Driscoll, who is close to Vice President J.D. Vance, proposed arranging an Army visit for President Donald Trump, and this led to a verbal dispute with Hegseth.
Tension between the two grew even tighter when President Trump entrusted peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to Secretary Driscoll rather than to Secretary Hegseth last November. According to internal sources, Hegseth was concerned that President Trump was considering Driscoll as his successor.
Subsequently, in February of this year, a meeting in which Driscoll reported a promotion list to Hegseth escalated into a heated argument lasting more than an hour and fell through. This was because Hegseth demanded that Black and female officers be excluded, and Driscoll refused.
When reports of discord over the promotion list were later reported in the media, Hegseth suspected that former Chief George, a close associate of Driscoll, had leaked the article and demanded his resignation. At the same time, rumors of Driscoll's dismissal spread within the administration, and Hegseth's chief spokesperson Sean Parnell reportedly told officials that Hegseth would dismiss Driscoll and then nominate him as Army Secretary. As the controversy grew, Driscoll sent a statement to the WP on the 7th of this month to calm the situation, saying, "I have no plans to step down or resign from the position of Army Secretary."
