The Latest: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down, White House says
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after just 18 months on the job. The White House announced his departure after Driscoll spoke with President Donald Trump about the current state of the Army, an Army official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. He's only the latest top military leader to leave during the Trump administration.
The U.S. Postal Service is rushing to launch a hastily built, error-riddled computer system that could jeopardize the process of mail voting relied upon by one-third of all voters, according to a whistleblower statement released Tuesday by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
And in a blow to congressional authority, a divided Supreme Court is allowing construction to continue on Trump's $400 million White House ballroom as he flexes unprecedented executive power and remakes the capital in his image.
Here's the Latest:
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian vented about the Trump administration in public before his private meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“The aggression that America carried out against Iran had no legal, scientific, or logical justification. They martyred our leader, they martyred our commanders, they martyred our scientists, they martyred our innocent students, they beat our people; in other words, this behavior cannot be justified in any mental, rational, or international framework,” Pezeshkian said. “Unfortunately, they claim human rights, they claim to be law-abiding, and the things they are doing are not documented in any framework that can be relied upon.”
“As I have stated repeatedly, Russia stands in solidarity with the Iranian people. We admire your courage and resilience in the pursuit of your national interests,” Vladimir Putin said in public before his meeting with Iranian leader Masoud Pezeshkian Tuesdayon the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
Putin also said that Moscow has welcomed Iran’s ceasefire agreement with the United States early this year, but that “truce proved unstable and all too fragile.” So meanwhile, Russia has continued to supply Iran with “essential goods” while maintaining momentum on trade.
In turn, Pezeshkian thanked Moscow for its support amid both U.S. sanctions and its conflict with Israel and Washington. Iran has scrambled to sustain trade amid U.S. threats to sanction any country that refuses to break ties with the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian during a summit in Kyrgyzstan that “if the U.S. returns to its commitments in the memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate,” Iranian state media reported.
The June memorandum started a 60-day period for negotiations aimed at reaching a wider peace deal. Iran agreed to clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines and allow ships to pass during the period, and the U.S. agreed to end its naval blockade, lift sanctions, issue waivers for Iranian oil exports and begin work on a reconstruction package for Iran, among other things. But the ceasefire broke down quickly, and while there has been a lull in fighting, the two sides exchanged fire on the weekend.
While Pezeshkian has long favored a negotiated end to the war, Iran’s most powerful force remains the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which is pressing for Iranian control over the strait and financial compensation for the war.
Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that Driscoll “worked to transform the Army for the battlefield of the future, and he engaged with Congress candidly and consistently.”
“Secretary Hegseth is cultivating a culture where dissent is punished and competence is secondary to personal allegiance,” said Reed, a former Army officer, while noting that “hundreds of thousands of soldiers are deployed around the world, many in combat zones.”
Rep. Jason Crow, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and co-chairs the House Army Caucus, said the “Pentagon right now is, in some cases, rudderless,” with so many senior leaders gone. “So, I’m gravely concerned about it,” he said.
Rep. Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican who had served in the Army National Guard, said on X that Driscoll is “a transformative leader who brought common sense and discipline to the Department of the Army.”
“I had the pleasure of working with him closely, and appreciated how engaged he was from mentoring cadets at West Point to leading the Army at the Pentagon,” Womack wrote. “The Army is better equipped and prepared to tackle emerging threats because of his leadership that strengthened the force while putting our Soldiers first.”
Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat and former Army Ranger, told reporters that he worked well with Driscoll despite their policy differences.
“It was actually nice, I will say, having somebody who was smart, that knew the policy, that wanted to do the work, that had a background in these issues,” Crow said, adding that “it’s unfortunate that somebody like that can’t last in this administration.”
Driscoll’s departure follows the ouster of one of his allies from the Army as well as the rollback of a drone program he had championed. Hegseth had suddenly ousted the service’s top uniformed leader, Gen. Randy George, in April, while the Army’s commander in Europe and Africa, Gen. Christopher Donahue, unexpectedly stepped down in June.
Gen. Christopher LaNeve took George’s place and directed a Europe-based Army unit that was building its own drones to end its efforts.
Driscoll told Congress in April that the military’s civilian leadership gets “to pick the leaders that they want.”
Driscoll is an Iraq war veteran, tech investor and former adviser to Vice President JD Vance, whom Driscoll met at Yale Law School. When nominating Driscoll in 2024, Trump called him “a disruptor and change agent.”
As Army secretary, Driscoll was tapped for the unusual role of key negotiator to try to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. He was also a major force behind trying to cut the red tape for military contractors to quickly develop more drones and counter-drone capabilities as warfare rapidly changes around the world.
No reason was given for the departure of Driscoll, but tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been widely reported.
House lawmakers returned to Washington on Monday with a short to-do list after five weeks back in their home districts. The first order of business is most likely a vote on a stopgap spending bill designed to keep the federal government fully funded through early December, removing the possibility of a shutdown before the midterm elections.
With election season getting underway, votes are also expected on measures designed to amplify the GOP’s messaging strategy going into November, most notably a resolution condemning socialism. Republicans are trying to tie the Democratic Party in general to the democratic socialist candidates who have succeeded this year in running for office.
“The first thing is we’ve got to make sure this government gets funded and we don’t have another Democratic shutdown,” Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters as he prepared to open the chamber for business. The funding vote will most likely take place Tuesday.
The U.S. Postal Service is poised to launch a hastily built, error-riddled computer system that could jeopardize the process of mail voting relied upon by one-third of all voters, according to a whistleblower statement released Tuesday by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
The effort is part of the implementation of Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting and has been temporarily halted by a federal judge. The ruling is being appealed by the administration and the directive may ultimately end up back before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The disclosure from the unidentified whistleblower contends that the Postal Service has been scrambling to try to build a complex system that would normally take a year or more in only three months, sometimes in defiance of the judge’s orders halting work. The goal is to have it ready for use in the midterm elections.
The disclosure contends that, due to the new procedures, a single scanning error in a batch of tens of thousands of ballot envelopes could prevent any from reaching voters. It details a system that election officials have already warned could not be implemented before the first mail ballots begin going out Friday in North Carolina.
When Vice President JD Vance stepped on stage in Michigan on Monday, it was MAGA Inc. writing the check for the campaign event. It was a rare bit of spending in a battleground state from a powerful political organization that has mostly been missing in action this year.
With just over two months to go before the midterm elections, President Donald Trump is still sitting on most of his colossal war chest, and he’s been growing his money pile instead of spending it.
Even though the president and his team insist they’ll open their wallet soon, frustrations are growing as Republicans try to maintain control of Congress despite headwinds partially of Trump’s own creation. While the president remains the party’s best asset in turning out its base, he is historically unpopular, with low marks on his handling of the economy and the ongoing war in Iran.
The ticking clock narrows Republicans’ options because time on the airwaves gets more limited and more expensive as the election draws near.
A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the White House to continue construction on a $400 million ballroom project as lawsuits play out, a win for Trump as he flexes unprecedented executive power and remakes the capital in his image.
The apparent 5-4 decision replaces a temporary order issued earlier this month, shortly before a court-ordered halt would have gone into effect.
That temporary order was signed by Chief Justice John Roberts, assigned to handle appeals from the capital. But he publicly disagreed with the latest decision, writing a strong dissent that said the project is likely unlawful because it hasn’t been approved by Congress.
“Today’s decision is no victory for the separation of powers,” Roberts wrote. The court’s three liberal-leaning justices agreed.
The majority, on the other hand, found the National Trust for Historic Preservation likely did not have the legal right to challenge the project.
Driscoll's departure is only the latest of a top military leader during the Trump administration, and no reason was given Monday. He's a friend of Vice President JD Vance, but tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been widely reported. The U.S. military leadership has seen a series of shakeups, with the Army especially seeing major upheaval.
A U.S. Army official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Driscoll spoke with President Donald Trump on the current state of the Army and submitted his resignation. The official did not provide additional details. The Pentagon referred questions to the Army. Driscoll’s resignation was reported earlier Monday by The Wall Street Journal.
By Ben Finley and Aamer Madhani
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