There is no Chief of Staff to the Army Secretary currently serving.
Posted by The Daily Beast Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict5 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 40%
The Daily Beast PodcastSep 8, 2026
The sources do not establish who, if anyone, was serving as Chief of Staff to the Army Secretary on 2026-09-08. The only roster showing that post (a September 21 Army Secretariat listing with Brandon Pugh as acting) is a later snapshot, and the sources about the Army's chief of staff (the uniformed post George vacated) concern a different office.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… Yeah, it's one of those moments that future school children, all being well, will learn about in the history books. I mean, it's, it's literally things are start, are not working. There's no Army Secretary. There's no Chief of Staff to the Army Secretary. It's a vacuum at the head of, of the Army. It, it beggars belief. Well, you know, Push up Pete and Kernel Vodka, we can just, let's, let's just, just begin to listen. …
The Daily Beast Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. An Army Secretariat roster dated 21 September 2026 lists 'Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Army' as Mr. Brandon Pugh, Acting. This is a later snapshot and does not show the post's status on 2026-09-08, so it cannot directly contradict the claim as of that date.[3]
Context. Dan Driscoll resigned as Army Secretary around September 2, and Trump appointed Adam Telle as acting Army Secretary on September 3, so the Army Secretary office was filled, at least acting, on the claim date.[1][2][4]
Context. Sources on the Army's uniformed Chief of Staff (Gen. Randy George fired in April; Gen. Christopher LaNeve acting) describe a vacancy in a different office. They do not address the Secretary's chief of staff, so they do not grade the claim.[1][5][6]
Context. The claim departs from the post's wording in one respect: the passage says 'There's no Chief of Staff to the Army Secretary' in the context of a broader Army leadership vacuum, and the claim's word 'currently' adds a present-state assertion the post did not stress.
Sources
6 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 4 not rated
- 1Dan Driscoll steps down as US Army secretary after 18 monthsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2Trump appoints Adam Telle as acting US Army Secretaryreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3Army Secretariat Secretary of the Army HON Adam R. Telle ...api.army.mil · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4Secretary of the Army | Daniel Driscollarmy.mil · not rated · cited for: context
- 5Chief of Staff of the United States Army - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 6Hegseth's purge of top generals leaves the Army rudderlessseattletimes.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- There is no Army Secretary currently serving.False
- The U.S. Army currently lacks a Senate-confirmed leader.True
- Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has resigned.True
- Donald Trump named Adam Tell as acting Army secretary following the resignation of Dan Driscoll.True
- Pete Hegseth is currently serving as the head of the Department of Defense.True