When President Donald Trump nominated Daniel Driscoll to be secretary of the Army, he said Driscoll’s experience would make him a disruptor and change agent. That’s consistent with the type of people Trump is choosing to fill his cabinet.
The veteran of the Iraq war is from North Carolina. Most recently he was an adviser to Vice President JD Vance. The two reportedly met when they were students at Yale law school.
“A major job of the secretary is the political side because the secretary can deal with partisan politics in a way that the chief of staff won’t feel comfortable,” said retired Marine Col. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Driscoll ran unsuccessfully for Congress in western North Carolina in 2020. Campaign records show Vance donated $500 to his campaign.
“The fact that he was a law school classmate of the vice president, and he’s a contemporary of the secretary of defense, and about the same age as the national security adviser, with similar experiences. I think those are all strengths he brings to the job,” said retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Meese, a professor at Georgetown University.
The Army secretary is a civilian position that focuses on the organization and recruitment of the largest branch of the armed forces.
Driscoll has his work cut out because the Army and military in general have struggled to meet their recruiting targets in recent years.
“His job is to make sure the budgets, the policies, the culture, the strategy is right to be able to recruit the best people in the Army, train them in the best possible way,” Meese said. “He is not being called and would not be called on as Secretary of the Army to make tactical decisions in the deployment of forces.”
Driscoll’s confirmation hearing was held last week, and while he doesn’t seem to be facing major roadblocks, Democratic Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a veteran, expressed concerns.
“I’d like to follow up on our meeting last week. To be candid you performed very poorly in your conversation with me,” Duckworth told Driscoll during his hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Driscoll later said, “I believe that the president of the United States chose me specifically because of my experience.”
Duckworth added, “it’s my job to advise and consent on the nominees that the president puts forward. Just because the president puts forward a nominee doesn’t mean that person is qualified to do the job.”
The committee has not yet scheduled Driscoll’s confirmation vote.
