The Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Daniel Driscoll, an Army 1st lieutenant-turned-businessman, who most recently served as a senior advisor to Vice President Vance.
Driscoll, 38, received bipartisan support during his confirmation hearing late last month, and was confirmed in a 66-28 vote in the full Senate. Vance read out the results.
The new secretary served in the Army for three and a half years and was deployed to Iraq in 2009. Upon returning to the U.S., he attended Yale Law School, where he met Vance.
Last year, he spoke to PBS about how that shared background in Iraq shaped their views on the military and engagement overseas.
“I think a lot of us that were there look back on it and are kind of horrified when you see how those decisions were made and what the cost was,” he said.
In 2020, Driscoll ran to represent North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, but ended up losing in the party’s primary contest to former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.). He has also worked in North Carolina as an investment banker.
He replaces Christine Wormuth, who became the first woman to serve as Army secretary after being picked by President Biden in April 2021.
“As a former Soldier, Investor, and Political Advisor, Dan brings a powerful combination of experiences to serve as a disruptor and change agent,” Trump said in announcing Driscoll’s nomination in November.
“Dan will be a fearless and relentless fighter for America’s Soldiers and the America First agenda,” he added.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. spoke out in support of his confirmation during his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Jan. 30.
“As a lawyer, we follow the facts and the law, and that’s what Dan Driscoll will do as secretary of the Army,” Blumenthal said.
He said his son, who attended Yale with Driscoll, “assured me that he’s a person willing to listen, to learn and to work in a bipartisan way, to put our soldiers first.”
Among the priorities Driscoll discussed in the hearing was developing a more cost-effective way to defend against drones, and increasing recruitment through better promotion of the benefits, such as the GI bill.
Driscoll, like other Trump nominees, faced questions from Democrats about his willingness to carry out potentially illegal orders from the president.
“I reject the premise of the question, Senator, that he would [issue an unlawful order], but I would not” follow it, Driscoll told Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.). “I would only follow lawful orders…and constitutional ones.”
