President Trump on Thursday named Adam Telle, a civilian leader in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as the acting Army secretary, following the resignation of Dan Driscoll earlier this week.
Telle is currently the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works. But he spent more than 20 years working for Republican senators, and worked in the White House during Mr. Trump’s first term, serving as the president’s chief liaison to the Senate, according to an Army biography.
“He is a Great Patriot, who is respected by all,” Mr. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Hegseth echoed that in his own post on X.
“Huge congrats to Adam. Strong and whip smart,” Hegseth wrote. “He is indeed a great Patriot — and will be an immediate asset to the @USArmy.”
Driscoll resigned as the Army’s top civilian leader this week, following months of behind-the-scenes friction with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It marked the latest departure of a high-level military official under Hegseth.
An Army veteran and ally of Vice President JD Vance, Driscoll had drawn up plans to transform the Army’s operations. But he shared concerns with the Trump administration that Hegseth had pushed out some of the generals responsible for implementing those plans, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News.
Hegseth asked Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, a close friend of Driscoll, to step down in April. Less than three months later, the commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa — Gen. Chris Donahue — also submitted retirement papers.
George and Driscoll rolled out a planned “Army Transformation Initiative” last year, calling for more drones and other emerging technology to be integrated into units, along with changes to force structure and the elimination of obsolete equipment.
George and Donahue were also supporters of a newly formed Army drone battalion that was tasked just last year with picking up lessons from the intense drone warfare in Ukraine. However, the Army began making plans to phase out that unit last month, CBS News has reported, following tension between the officers who supported it and acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve.
Telle will now begin overseeing the nation’s largest fighting force at a time when the U.S. is still engaged in conflict with Iran and significant Army forces are stationed in the Middle East.
The war has significantly contributed to the U.S. military’s shortfall in critical weapons like the Patriot and THAAD defense missile interceptor systems, which are operated by the Army.
Democrats and Republicans lamented Driscoll’s departure, with some blaming Hegseth directly.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who is retiring and sometimes has clashed with Mr. Trump, said on social media that Hegseth “is creating a leadership void at the top of our military ranks.”
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