Trump names Adam Telle as acting US army secretary
Donald Trump has appointed Adam Telle as acting army secretary after Daniel Driscoll's abrupt departure, which followed widely reported tensions with defense secretary Pete Hegseth.
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Adam Telle would serve as acting secretary of the army, replacing Daniel Driscoll, who stepped down this week without publicly explaining his decision. Driscoll's exit follows extensive reporting on friction between him and defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump described Telle in a Truth Social post as "a Great Patriot, who is respected by all."
Telle currently serves as assistant secretary of the army for civil works, a post he has held since August 2025. Before that, he spent roughly two decades on Capitol Hill, including serving as chief of staff to Republican Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee from 2021 to 2025. During Trump's first term, Telle spent 18 months in the White House as a special assistant to the president for legislative affairs, and he also worked for more than ten years for the late Republican Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi.
Telle takes charge of the country's largest military branch at a moment when the US remains engaged in conflict with Iran, with substantial army forces stationed across the Middle East. That conflict has contributed significantly to shortages of key army-operated weapons systems, including Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) missile interceptors.
Driscoll, an army veteran who served in Iraq, gave no public reason for leaving after 18 months as the service's top civilian official. In his only statement on the matter, issued Tuesday, he called it "the honor of a lifetime" to serve as army secretary and credited Hegseth's support for the progress made. He reportedly discussed the army's current state with Trump before submitting his resignation.
Driscoll, a friend of Vice-President JD Vance, was known for maintaining good relationships with both parties in Congress. Several of his allies within the army were pushed out this year under Hegseth, including the service's top uniformed officer, Gen Randy George. Gen Christopher LaNeve, now acting army chief of staff, recently ended a drone modernization program that Driscoll had championed.
Lawmakers from both parties expressed regret over Driscoll's departure, with some directly blaming Hegseth. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is retiring, said on social media that Hegseth "is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks."
