Hegseth Directs Army Secretary To Fire Public Affairs Chief
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has directed Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to remove Col. Dave Butler from his post as chief of Army public affairs and senior adviser to the Army secretary, according to a report by Fox News — marking the latest high-level shake-up at the Pentagon under President Donald J. Trump’s second-term leadership.
Driscoll is currently in Geneva as part of a U.S. delegation engaged in negotiations tied to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Fox News reported.
Butler previously led public affairs for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the tenure of Mark Milley as chairman. He had been nominated for promotion to brigadier general and appeared for two consecutive years on an Army list of 34 officers selected for advancement.
That promotion list has reportedly been stalled for nearly four months after Hegseth raised concerns about several officers included by the Army selection board. Under federal law, the defense secretary does not have the authority to unilaterally strike individual names from a promotion list once it has been formally submitted.
An Army official cited in the report indicated that Butler offered to voluntarily withdraw his name from consideration in order to allow the broader slate of promotions to proceed without further delay.
Driscoll — an Army veteran and close ally of Vice President JD Vance, who attended Yale Law School with him — had reportedly resisted pressure from Hegseth for months, citing Butler’s contributions to Army modernization efforts.
“We greatly appreciate COL Dave Butler’s lifetime of service in America’s Army and to our nation,” Driscoll said in a statement. “Dave has been an integral part of the Army’s transformation efforts and I sincerely wish him tremendous success in his upcoming retirement after 28 years of service.”
Fox News reported that Butler accompanied Driscoll to Ukraine in November 2025 to assist in launching peace negotiations. Hegseth’s directive to remove him reportedly came late last week.
Since assuming leadership at the Pentagon in 2025, Hegseth has moved swiftly to reshape the senior ranks of the U.S. military, parting ways with or encouraging early retirement for a number of high-ranking officers. Among them were Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Gen. CQ Brown, Gen. James Mingus, Gen. Douglas A. Sims, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin, Gen. James Slife, and Gen. Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency.
Supporters of the administration argue the changes reflect a broader effort to realign Pentagon leadership with President Trump’s focus on warfighting readiness, merit-based advancement, and depoliticizing the armed forces.
Butler, widely regarded as one of the Army’s most seasoned communications officers, served alongside elite special operations units during multiple overseas missions while attached to Delta Force from 2010 to 2014. From 2015 to 2018, he was public affairs officer for Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg, where he worked closely with Gen. Scott Miller during Miller’s command.
At Miller’s request, Butler later deployed to Afghanistan from 2018 to 2019, serving as chief spokesman and director of communications for U.S. and NATO forces while Miller held command as the top four-star general in the theater, Fox reported.
A former four-star officer who once led U.S. Special Operations described Butler as “the consummate professional, the most competent Public Affairs officer I have ever worked with and a gifted practitioner of strategic communications.”
In 2025, during celebrations marking the Army’s 250th anniversary, President Donald J. Trump personally acknowledged Butler for assisting the Army chief in organizing the commemorative parade in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, in a separate but significant development last December, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of Hegseth and the Trump administration regarding the reinstated policy barring transgender Americans from serving in the U.S. military. The appellate panel also rebuked a lower federal district court judge appointed by former President Joe Biden for her ruling against the Pentagon — a decision seen by supporters as reinforcing civilian control over military standards.
Butler’s removal underscores the administration’s continued willingness to recalibrate leadership at the highest levels of the armed forces as it advances a defense agenda centered on operational strength, accountability, and strategic clarity.