Daniel P. Driscoll

Daniel Patrick Driscoll (born 1986) is an American investment banker and former military officer who served as the United States secretary of the Army from 2025 to 2026. Driscoll additionally served as the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from 2025 to 2026.

Driscoll graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in 2007. He served in the United States Army for four years, eventually becoming a first lieutenant. Driscoll graduated from Yale Law School with a Juris Doctor in 2014. He worked at several investment firms in North Carolina. After North Carolina representative Mark Meadows announced that he would resign to serve as the White House chief of staff in December 2019, Driscoll ran in the United States House of Representatives election to succeed him. Driscoll lost the Republican primary in March 2020.

In December 2024, President-elect Donald Trump named Driscoll as his nominee to serve as the United States secretary of the Army. The Senate voted to confirm Driscoll in February 2025. As the secretary of the Army, Driscoll was involved in modernizing the Army's technology, particularly drones. He was closely aligned with General Randy George, the Army's chief of staff. Amid a dispute with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Driscoll resigned in September 2026.

Early life, military service, and education (1986–2014) Daniel Patrick Driscoll was born in 1986 in Boone, North Carolina. Driscoll's grandfather was a decoder in World War II, and his father was an infantryman in the Vietnam War. He graduated from Watauga High School in May 2004,

Driscoll graduated from the Officer Candidate School and became a commissioned officer in the United States Army He was deployed as part of the 10th Mountain Division to Iraq He completed the Ranger School. Driscoll left military service in March 2011 as a first lieutenant. He was involved in the Yale Veterans Legal Services Clinic, held an externship with a U.S. attorney's office, and interned for the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Driscoll briefly quit his job after the birth of his first child. He later served as the chief operating officer of Flex Capital.

U.S. congressional campaign in North Carolina (2019–2020) After North Carolina representative Mark Meadows announced that he would resign to serve as the White House chief of staff in December 2019, Driscoll announced that he would run in the United States House of Representatives election for North Carolina's eleventh congressional district. According to Driscoll, Meadows's resignation accelerated his family's plans to move to Western North Carolina. By February 2020, Driscoll had garnered nearly , receiving significant funding from the With Honor Fund. In the Republican primary in March, Driscoll lost to the businesswoman Lynda Bennett and the political aide Madison Cawthorn.

Secretary of the Army (2025–2026) Nomination and confirmation On December 4, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump named Driscoll as his nominee to serve as the United States secretary of the Army. including expanding the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps and the Future Soldier Prep Course. Driscoll's hearing occurred the day after a passenger jet and an Army helicopter collided over the Potomac River; Driscoll stated that he would consider ending flight training in high-traffic areas. The Senate Committee on Armed Services voted to advance Driscoll's nomination on February 11. The Senate voted to confirm Driscoll in a 66–28 vote on February 25. He was the youngest person to be confirmed as the secretary of the Army. In April, Hegseth ordered Driscoll to "implement a comprehensive transformation strategy"; in response, Driscoll and General Randy George, the chief of staff of the Army, announced the Army Transformation Initiative.

The Army Transformation Initiative's initial measures included swearing in four technology executives as lieutenant colonels in the Army Reserve, cutting production on vehicles such as the M10 Booker, and consolidating the Futures and Training and Doctrine Commands. In an interview with Axios in May, Driscoll stated that he had received "air cover" for the initiative amid criticism from lawmakers. In June 2025, Driscoll revised the Army Transformation Initiative to target "procurement, reorganizing and reshuffling, and firing". and established a program, SkyFoundry, for increasing drone manufacturing capacity.

Driscoll was involved in planning the United States Army 250th Anniversary Parade in June 2025. In July, Driscoll directed the United States Military Academy to review its hiring policies and to rescind its employment offer to Jen Easterly, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. That month, Driscoll met with Hawaii governor Josh Green to continue using land leased for the Pohakuloa Training Area. According to Ohio governor Mike DeWine, Driscoll requested additional National Guard troops to be deployed to Washington, D.C. in August. At an Association of the United States Army meeting in October, Driscoll stated that he wanted to "get human stupidity out of the way" to fix quality-of-life issues on bases.

In November 2025, Trump dispatched Driscoll; George; and General Chris Donahue, the commanding general of United States Army Europe and Africa, to Kyiv to negotiate an end to the Russo-Ukrainian war. According to The Wall Street Journal, the decision to send them to Ukraine was motivated by a belief that Russia would be open to negotiating with officials in the U.S. military. Axios later reported that Vance had suggested sending Driscoll to Ukraine. Driscoll met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv; with European officials—alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio—in Geneva; and with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi. He presented Zelenskyy with Trump's 28-point peace plan. The following month, The New York Times reported that Hegseth had asked Driscoll to block the promotions of two Black and two female officers to be one-star generals; Driscoll repeatedly refused the request, citing their experience. The conflict between Hegseth and Driscoll intensified after Hegseth fired George, a Driscoll ally.

In August 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported that Driscoll was expected to resign by the end of the year amid his conflict with Hegseth. Driscoll's decision occurred as peace efforts in Ukraine had stalled and his modernization effort had been scaled back. According to The New York Times, Driscoll and Hegseth were "barely on speaking terms". The Atlantic later reported that Driscoll had brought his concerns about Hegseth's purge of generals directly to Trump. Trump purportedly urged Driscoll to remain in his position through that year's elections, according to The Washington Post. On August 31, the Journal reported that Driscoll had submitted his resignation. Driscoll left the Department of the Army on September 2.

Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (2025–2026) On April 9, 2025, Driscoll was appointed as the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, succeeding Kash Patel, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Driscoll was formally sworn in the following day. According to The New York Times, officials in the Trump administration decided to appoint Driscoll shortly after Patel became the acting director in February, but had not informed Driscoll of their decision until his appointment.

Views While running for North Carolina's eleventh congressional district in 2020, Driscoll advocated for constructing President Donald Trump's border wall, lowering taxes, and job creation through deregulation. |float=center