GOP Senator Tillis and Rep. Bacon Say Hegseth Should Go After Army Secretary Driscoll Quits

Since Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submitted his resignation to President Trump on Monday, August 31, the fallout has pulled in Republican lawmakers who had previously stayed quiet on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who voted to confirm Hegseth in January 2025, renewed his call Wednesday for Trump to fire him. Tillis, who is not seeking reelection, posted on social media that Driscoll "was the right man at the right moment to lead our Soldiers and Army civilians" and blamed his exit on what Tillis called Hegseth's "inept management."

"I served on Senate Armed Services for 8 years and as chair or ranking member of the Personnel and Readiness subcommittee," Tillis wrote. "I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country. He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense."

In July, Tillis told The Hill he had lost confidence in Hegseth entirely, saying the secretary "micromanages too much" and has "a massive insecurity complex."

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a retired Air Force brigadier general, made similar points Tuesday on CNN's The Arena. Bacon said the sheer number of firings, and the vacancies left behind, should concern "all of us."

"Hes redlined which means hes crossed out a lot of one star promotees and two star promotees," Bacon said, adding that the Army is currently missing both a permanent secretary and a chief of staff at the same time. He noted the Cyber Command position went unfilled for 10 to 11 months after its previous commander was fired.

Bacon was careful to note the legal reality: "the Constitution gives them that right to fire and hire who he wants, but it doesnt make it morally right, and it doesnt make it wise." Asked directly whether Hegseth should be fired, Bacon declined to say so, calling him instead someone who is "following the presidents orders and following his wishes," and adding, "he wouldnt be my choice."

Democrats pile on, White House pushes back

Senate Armed Services ranking member Jack Reed (D-RI) used Driscoll's departure to renew his own long-running criticism. "In the Army alone, he has fired and blocked the promotions of dozens of senior officers without explanation, including Army Chief of Staff General Randy George and half of all four-star generals," Reed said, arguing Hegseth is "cultivating a culture where dissent is punished and competence is secondary to personal allegiance."

A Washington Post opinion piece asserted Hegseth has fired more than two dozen senior officers and blocked at least 45 promotions "for reasons he never explained," and argued his tenure has "crippled the military." That is the Post's editorial characterization, not an independently verified tally cited elsewhere in this reporting, though the Washington Examiner separately reported roughly 20 generals, admirals and civilian defense leaders have departed under Hegseth.

The White House response has been narrowly targeted at defending Driscoll's record, not Hegseth's. Spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Driscoll "has been highly effective in advancing President Trump's agenda to Make America Strong Again," crediting him with restoring the Army's focus on "readiness and lethality" and helping with Russia-Ukraine negotiations. Kelly's statement did not address the criticism of Hegseth directly.

According to the Daily Wire, Driscoll's resignation followed months of friction with Hegseth over the Army's transformation efforts, and the tension was reportedly compounded by Driscoll's close friendship with Vice President JD Vance, his former Yale Law classmate.

The case Hegseth's defenders make

The administration's position, as Bacon himself conceded, is that the secretary is operating within his constitutional authority to hire and fire military leadership, and that Trump directed a broad Pentagon shake-up specifically to prioritize combat readiness over legacy promotion pipelines. Under that reading, the personnel churn is deliberate housecleaning, not dysfunction. Bacon did not dispute the legality of the firings, only the lack of explanation given to the officers themselves and to Congress.

What remains unresolved is whether Trump agrees with his own party's mounting criticism. The president has not publicly addressed Tillis's renewed call for Hegseth's firing, and no replacement has been named for either the Army secretary post or the chief of staff role Gen. Randy George vacated earlier this year. Until those seats are filled, Bacon's core complaint, that senior leadership vacancies are piling up faster than they're being resolved, stands unanswered by the Pentagon.