Daniel P. Driscoll

Dan Driscoll
Official portrait, 2025
26th United States Secretary of the Army
Incumbent
Assumed office February 25, 2025
President	Donald Trump
Deputy	David R. Fitzgerald (acting) Michael Obadal
Preceded by	Christine Wormuth
Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Acting
Assumed office April 10, 2025[1]
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Kash Patel (acting)
Personal details
Born	1986 (age 39–40) Boone, North Carolina, U.S.
Party	Republican
Spouse	Cassie Driscoll
Children	2
Education	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BS) Yale University (JD)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	2007–2011
Rank	First Lieutenant
Battles/wars	Iraq War
Awards	Army Commendation Medal Ranger tab Combat Action Badge

Daniel Patrick Driscoll is an American politician, businessman, lawyer, and former military officer who has served as the 26th United States secretary of the Army as well as the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he was a candidate for North Carolina's 11th congressional district in 2020.

Driscoll was born in Boone, North Carolina[2] and raised in Banner Elk, North Carolina.[3] He attended Watauga High School.[4] Driscoll's father was an infantryman in the Vietnam War and his grandfather served in World War II as a decoder.[5][6] He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007, graduating in three years so he could join the Army,[4][7] and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2014 after his military service using the post-9/11 GI Bill.[8][4] He was a Yale classmate and friend of Vice President JD Vance, and Matt Blumenthal (the son of U.S. senator from Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal).[9]

Driscoll enlisted in the United States Army after graduating from college in 2007, and after completing basic training, attended the Army Officer Candidate School, where he was commissioned.[4][7] He served in the Army for three and a half years, leaving active duty as a first lieutenant. He was an armor officer between August 2007 and March 2011, including service as a cavalry scout platoon leader with the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York. Driscoll earned his Ranger tab at U.S. Army Ranger School, and was deployed to Iraq for nine months in October 2009, where he saw combat and earned the Combat Action Badge and the Army Commendation Medal.[5][7]

Driscoll interned for the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs; Ninth Circuit chief judge Alex Kozinski; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; and Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson[10] and worked at an investment bank in Charlotte, North Carolina. He later moved to Winston-Salem, where he was a venture capitalist and on the board of a medical staffing agency, before moving to Pasadena, California.[7] Driscoll ran for the Republican nomination to represent North Carolina's 11th congressional district in the 2020 election.[11] During the 2024 United States presidential election, he worked on Donald Trump's presidential campaign as a senior advisor due to his connection to Vance, and was recommended by him to become the secretary of the Army.[7] He was inducted into the Army OCS Hall of Fame in 2026.[12]

On December 4, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Driscoll to be the secretary of the Army for his second administration.[13] The Senate confirmation hearing was held on January 30, 2025[14] amidst cabinet officials for ODNI, FBI, and HHS.[15]

On February 25, 2025, the United States Senate confirmed Driscoll to the position of secretary of the Army by a 66–28 vote.[16] He was sworn in as the 26th secretary of the Army on the same day by Vice President JD Vance.[17] At the age of 38 years old, Driscoll became the youngest U.S. army secretary in history. In that role he has encouraged the Army to adopt the latest developments in drone technology, especially as they have been used in the Russo-Ukrainian war.[2]

On April 9, 2025, President Donald Trump announced Driscoll would succeed Kash Patel as the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.[18] In May 2025, Driscoll and Army chief of staff Randy George announced the Army Transformation Initiative, a modernization program consistent with a directive from defense secretary Pete Hegseth.[19] Also that month, Driscoll confirmed that the Army would cancel the M10 Booker project, citing high costs, a negotiated right to repair maintenance contract, its 38-ton weight, and its design.[20]

On November 20, 2025, he led a delegation of U.S. Army officials to Kyiv, Ukraine, and met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in order to negotiate the end of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[21] Driscoll, who was going to visit Ukraine to discuss technology, industrial output, and strategy, was reportedly given the task of presenting the 28-point peace plan at the recommendation of Vice President JD Vance.[22] Driscoll told the Ukrainian leadership that if they do not accept the Trump administration peace proposal Ukraine's defeat on the battlefield is imminent.[23] After that he visited Geneva, Switzerland, for further negotiations involving Secretary of State Marco Rubio and European officials, and on November 24, he arrived in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he held talks with a Russian delegation.[2][24]

Driscoll is married to Cassie Driscoll, a plastic surgeon. They have two children.[25]

• Appearances on C-SPAN