Julia Ioffe looks at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempt to make life difficult for Army Secretary Dan Driscoll — during the middle of a war, no less.
“Driscoll, as I’ve reported, has been Hegseth’s enemy number one at the Pentagon for almost as long as he’s been in his role. In part, that’s because Driscoll became an early fixture in coverage of the administration—getting overwhelmingly positive press as the walking embodiment of affable competence. Between his boyish looks; his aw-shucks, nice-guy attitude; and his headline-grabbing attempts to transform the Army into a futuristic force, it was easy to see why Driscoll was getting far kinder treatment than the ragey, abrasive Hegseth. (That, and his staff worked hard for it.) By the fall, much of Washington was abuzz with the rumor that Hegseth was not long for the top job and Driscoll would be taking his place.”
“This, of course, is said to have infuriated Hegseth. But Driscoll had top cover that made him unfireable: He was a close friend of J.D. Vance, his pal from Yale Law. Usha Vance occasionally swung by the Pentagon for lunch with him. So Hegseth quickly learned how to make Driscoll’s life miserable without firing him outright: He would dismantle Driscoll’s inner circle and replace them with his own people.”
