WASHINGTON — Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a former U.S. Army Ranger who served three combat tours, issued a stark public warning on Tuesday about the state of leadership at the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying the wave of firings and resignations sweeping the department is damaging the readiness of the U.S. military.
In a post on X published at 3:50 p.m. on September 1, 2026, Crow wrote the following in full:
“I served three combat tours with the U.S. Army.
I’m gravely concerned about the state of the Pentagon under Pete Hegseth.
The firings and resignations of qualified generals, officers, and civilians is alarming and hurting our military readiness.”
Timed to Driscoll’s Resignation
Crow’s post came one day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll had submitted his resignation to President Trump, capping months of friction with Hegseth over the direction of the service and the ouster of numerous senior Army officers. Driscoll is expected to leave the Pentagon in the coming days, and his departure leaves the Army without a Senate-confirmed civilian or military leader at the top. Gen. Christopher LaNeve has served as acting chief of staff since Hegseth fired Gen. Randy George, while Army Undersecretary Mike Obadal would become the highest-ranking civilian official once Driscoll exits.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly defended Driscoll’s tenure in a statement to the Journal, saying he had been “highly effective in advancing President Trump’s agenda to Make America Strong Again at the Department of the Army” and crediting him with “restoring an emphasis on readiness and lethality” and assisting with Russia-Ukraine negotiations. “The United States Army is more powerful than ever thanks to his work alongside the Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of War,” Kelly added.
A Pattern of Senior Departures
Driscoll’s exit follows the retirement of Gen. Chris Donahue, the top Army officer in Europe until Hegseth downgraded his position, effectively ending his military career. Donahue previously led the Delta Force in the fight against the Islamic State. His removal was presented as part of a broader Hegseth initiative to cut the number of generals and admirals by 10 percent overall, including a 20 percent reduction in four-star positions, according to the Journal.
Lawmakers from both parties have voiced unease over the departures. Some Republicans have also pushed back on Hegseth’s preference for LaNeve to become the next Army chief of staff, signaling he may struggle to be confirmed if formally nominated — a concern compounded by LaNeve’s recent decision to phase out a futuristic Army assault battalion.
Crow’s Long-Running Scrutiny of Hegseth
Tuesday’s post is the latest in a sustained campaign of scrutiny Crow, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has directed at Hegseth since early 2025. In March 2025, after reports emerged that Hegseth shared classified war plans in an unsecured Signal channel, Crow called for his resignation outright, stating: “I’ve long said that Pete Hegseth is not qualified to be Defense Secretary… Secretary Hegseth sent top secret and classified war plans via an unsecured text chain. This carelessness with classified information endangered the lives of American pilots and servicemembers serving overseas. The Defense Secretary’s actions were reckless and he should resign.”
That criticism intensified in December 2025, when the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General found that Hegseth’s conduct likely jeopardized national security and endangered American troops. Responding to the findings, Crow said: “Pete Hegseth risked our servicemembers’ lives by sharing classified information about ongoing military operations on unsecured systems. If any general, lieutenant, or private had done the same thing as Pete Hegseth, they would immediately face accountability… Pete Hegseth needs to resign or be fired.”
Pressing Hegseth Over Conflicts of Interest
Crow has also focused on alleged conflicts of interest involving Hegseth’s inner circle. During an April 29 hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Crow questioned Hegseth about special adviser Tim Parlatore, an attorney who maintains a private legal practice while sitting in on Pentagon meetings. Hegseth said he did not know whether Parlatore held an office in the building or what level of security clearance he possessed. When Crow asked whether Parlatore represented foreign clients, Hegseth again said he did not know, prompting Crow to respond, “Clearly, you’re concerned about my line of questioning, aren’t you, Mr. Secretary, because you know where it’s going, don’t you?”
Crow’s office followed up with a formal demand that Hegseth clarify his testimony, with the congressman stating: “Pete Hegseth is not fit to lead. He has politicized our military, corrupted the highest office at the Pentagon, and now seems to have misled the public and Congress. Our military leaders make decisions of life and death nearly every day, and the American people must see that those leaders are chosen with integrity, merit, and their safety top of mind. Undermining this process puts our national security at risk. Hegseth must set the record straight before the American people.”
A separate press release from Crow’s office noted that Hegseth commissioned Parlatore into the Navy Reserve in March 2025, bypassing vetting by the White House Presidential Personnel Office and the Senate, and that Parlatore was also present on the unsecured Signal thread through which Hegseth shared classified strike information with family members and associates.
Wider Reports of a Pentagon “Purge”
Crow’s warnings echo broader reporting on what has become known as the “Pentagon purge,” a term describing the wave of departures Hegseth set in motion with a May 2025 memo directing senior leadership to reduce the number of flag and general officers across the armed forces. Hegseth has said the goal is to “streamline leadership,” but the initiative has drawn criticism from multiple corners, including two former officers — Nancy Lacore, now a congressional candidate in South Carolina, and Charles Q. Brown, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — who have spoken out publicly about their departures.
Acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez has disputed characterizations of the departures as retaliatory, stating: “Not a single general officer or flag officer has been fired raising concerns about any issue. That charge is completely false. If they believe what they’re saying to be true, then they should put their names on their statements on the record.”
Tensions With the Press
The upheaval at the Pentagon under Hegseth has extended beyond military leadership into the press corps covering the department. In August, the Pentagon fired the editor-in-chief and a Middle East reporter for Stars and Stripes, the news organization created to serve American troops and their families, citing insubordination after the journalists defended the outlet’s editorial independence. The firings followed a broader crackdown last year in which dozens of journalists surrendered their Pentagon credentials rather than accept new reporting restrictions, a policy a federal judge later partially blocked.
Crow’s Background
Crow, who represents Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, served as an Army Ranger and paratrooper before his political career, completing combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has cited that service repeatedly as the basis for his scrutiny of Hegseth’s leadership, telling one interviewer earlier this year that he views Hegseth as “worse than incompetent” and describing him as someone who lacks not only qualifications but exhibits “a meanness to him and a corruption of his heart and soul.”
What Comes Next
With Driscoll’s resignation still fresh and the Army now without permanent Senate-confirmed leadership, Crow’s Tuesday statement signals that congressional Democrats are likely to continue pressing the administration over the pace and rationale of personnel changes at the Pentagon. Confirmation fights over any nominee to replace Driscoll, along with the fate of LaNeve’s potential nomination as Army chief of staff, are expected to become the next flashpoints in the ongoing dispute between lawmakers and Hegseth’s Defense Department.