Army weapons shake-up backed by Hegseth and other Trump picks
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the wider Trump White House are providing "air cover" for the U.S. Army's ongoing vehicle-and-weapons upheaval, the service's top civilian told Axios.
Why it matters: System shocks are exactly that — a shock. Executing them requires support, especially at such a politically volatile moment.
"Fundamentally, they just have a risk tolerance that doesn't match, I think, previous administrations," Secretary Dan Driscoll said at a live Axios event.
"There are a lot of states and congressional districts and lobbyists; there are rational reasons why it exists the way it is today," he said. "Those reasons are just not in the best interest of soldiers."
Friction point: On the materiel chopping block are longtime favorites (Humvee, Apache and the Improved Turbine Engine Program) as well as relative newcomers (M10 Booker).
By the numbers: The Army is expected to save $48 billion over the next five years.
Driscoll told Axios he and others consider comparisons between the Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) and Elon Musk's DOGE a compliment.
"I think DOGE is loaded," he added. "You have a lot of people who have these feelings about it."
The intrigue: Both Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George have been working the media circuit since ATI was announced May 1.
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