In the year and a half since Mr. Hegseth assumed the position of US Secretary of Defense, at least 20 senior officials have left, causing great turmoil in the Pentagon's leadership.
US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll announced his resignation on September 2, marking the latest upheaval in a series of senior personnel changes at the Pentagon under Pete Hegseth, a former MC chosen by President Donald Trump to be Secretary of Defense.
But Driscoll did not go quietly. Before resigning, he met privately with President Trump, discussing the recent turmoil in the US Army, about generals and senior officials who were fired, forced to leave their positions or overlooked for promotions, an anonymous White House official said.
Driscoll said at least 20 generals and senior Pentagon officials have left their posts in about 18 months that Mr. Hegseth has been in office and the US Army cannot reform in the necessary way due to the departure of so many leaders.
"President Trump was surprised when Driscoll talked about the number of generals and other senior officials leaving under Mr. Hegseth," Atlantic quoted a source familiar with the matter as saying. The US Army has the smallest number of generals in recent years.
One of the first and most notable cases is General Charles Brown, who was dismissed by President Trump as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff in February 2025, after Secretary Hegseth said Mr. Brown was "not the right person at this time".
General Brown had only served about 16 months of his four-year term. He is a former fighter pilot and the second black person in American history to hold the position of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Trump then chose General Dan Caine to replace Brown.
This same month, the Pentagon dismissed Admiral Lisa Franchetti as Navy commander without announcing a specific reason. She is the first woman to hold this position and also the first female soldier to join the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Also included in that dismissal were General James Slife, deputy chief of staff of the Air Force, and leading military lawyers at all branches.
In April 2025, General Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and commander of the US Cyber Command (CYBERCOM), and his deputy Wendy Noble left their positions. Mr. Haugh plays an important role in the US intelligence and cyber security system.
According to the Washington Post, the move took place after a meeting between President Trump and Laura Loomer, a highly influential conservative activist in the MAGA movement. Loomer once campaigned for the removal of a number of officials she believed were disloyal to the White House boss.
The same month, the Pentagon confirmed that Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, the US representative to the NATO Military Committee, was dismissed "due to loss of confidence in her leadership abilities".
In August 2025, upheaval spread to the Air Force when General David Allvin announced his resignation after about two years as commander of this force. American media reported that the Pentagon pressured Mr. Allvin to retire early.
The same month, General Jeffrey Kruse was removed from his position as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). The decision attracted attention because DIA had assessed that the airstrike that the US carried out against Iran's nuclear facility in June 2025 only delayed Tehran's nuclear program by a few months. Meanwhile, President Trump and Mr. Hegseth announced that they had "eradicated" Iran's nuclear capabilities.
In April, Army Chief of Staff Randy George resigned and retired at the request of Secretary Hegseth. The decision was made when the US military was conducting a military campaign in the Middle East, a time when changing the head of a major military service was considered by Reuters to be very rare.
Mr. Hegseth then appointed General Christopher LaNeve as acting Chief of Staff of the Army. On the same day that Mr. George resigned, there were two more departures: General David Hodne, head of the Army Training and Transformation Command, and General William Green, head of the Army Chaplain Corps.
Less than three weeks later, Navy Secretary John Phelan left President Trump's administration. Sources say Mr. Phelan repeatedly disagreed with Mr. Hegseth and his deputy Steve Feinberg, including arguments over plans to accelerate shipbuilding for the Navy. Mr. Hung Cao is currently the acting Secretary of the Navy and was nominated by President Trump to replace Mr. Phelan.
General Christopher Donahue, commander of the US Army in Europe and Africa, also left his position, allegedly because Mr. Hegseth requested early retirement. Donahue was also the first high-ranking American officer to arrive in Ukraine after the conflict with Russia. He is respected by many Democratic and Republican politicians.
At the end of August, Secretary of the Army Driscoll left his position, further deepening the leadership vacuum in America's largest military service. Along with Mr. George's dismissal, the US Army lost two leaders in less than 5 months.
Mr. Driscoll's resignation raised a series of questions in the US Congress. Republican and Democratic lawmakers both expressed regret at this decision, some even criticized the way Mr. Hegseth led the Pentagon, calling for the dismissal of the Secretary of Defense.
"If he wants to maintain his priorities and look to the future, he must find a way to retain talent like Dan and many other officials," Republican senator Thom Tillis wrote on X. "Instead, he is creating a leadership vacuum at the highest levels of the military."
Senator Jack Reed, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized Mr. Hegseth for "creating a culture in which disagreement is punished, and competence is placed behind personal loyalty."
Meanwhile, some parliamentarians believe that personnel changes at the Ministry of Defense are not a worrying sign. Congressman Brian Mast, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, defended Hegseth, saying he had the right to choose the most suitable people for the leadership team.
"It is important that they are well prepared, motivated and determined to train the force, and be ready to carry out their missions," Mr. Mast said.
