Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is calling on President Donald Trump to hand Secretary of War Pete Hegseth his pink slip following the recent departure of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who resigned from his position. Tillis took to social media platform X to share his thoughts on the subject, saying that Hegseth has pushed senior officers out of the military and has failed to keep talent that the country needs.
“I served on the Senate Armed Services Committee for 8 years and as chair or ranking member of the Personnel and Readiness subcommittee. I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country,” Tillis said in the post. He then said that the secretary is intimidated by competence and uses culture war moments to avoid doing the work of building and establishing national defense.
“He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force,” Tillis added. He started the post by first thanking Driscoll for his service and giving praise for pushing the Army to adapt to the type of warfare happening in Ukraine and Iran.
According to Breitbart News, Tillis paired Driscoll with former Amery Chief of Staff Gen Randy George who was removed from his post by Hegseth back in April. “He and General George began a transformative period of innovation in how we array our forces and equip our Soldiers,” Tillis post went on to say. Tillis, who is retiring from his position, turned to Hegseth and addressed him directly.
“If we had a @SecWar who maintained the same priorities and forward-thinking, he would be fighting to retain talented leaders like Dan and the many flag officers he has forced into retirement,” Tillis stated. “Instead, he is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks.” Driscoll, however, did not actually reveal the reason he was stepping down. In fact, he praised the secretary.
“We could not have made the progress we did without the support of Secretary Hegseth,” Driscoll said in a post published on X. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly praised Driscoll, stating that during his time in the position he provided “outstanding leadership during historic military operations” and provided valuable assistance with negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
A source familiar with the situation spoke with CNN saying that Driscoll had raised the alarm about Army transformation and readiness, saying that Secretary Hegseth was “blocking those efforts specifically by firing the generals who were responsible” in his resignation letter. A report from CBS News counted a total of 20 departures from the top ranks of the Pentagon while Hegseth has been secretary.
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Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), who is a member of the Armed Services Committee, stated that he was “disappointed” to see Driscoll resign from his post. It’s worth noting that Tillis was one of the many Republicans who cast a vote in favor of confirming Hegseth as the secretary of war when President Donald Trump took office.
Watch Tillis attack Hegseth in an interview here: