Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told lawmakers Thursday that he was out of town when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army's top officer, former chief of staff Gen. Randy George, earlier this month, calling George a "transformational leader" as he recounted the abrupt leadership shake-up. Driscoll said he was in North Carolina with his family when he heard the news, and when driving home went directly to George's house. "We walked right in, and we all gave him a hug," Driscoll said during a House hearing on the Army's budget. "He was an amazing, transformational leader. That being said, the civilian leadership, the design of our system, is that they get to pick the leaders that they want, and we execute on those orders.""I, too, love Gen. George," Driscoll added.Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll testify during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense budget hearing for the US Army on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 16, 2026.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty ImagesIt remains unclear why George, who oversaw the Army, was fired on April 2. The Pentagon said at the time that Hegseth asked him to step down from the position and retire immediately.The decision came as the U.S. remains at war with Iran and as other significant military operations are being carried out in other parts of the world.Firings of general officers are relatively rare and have historically followed public scandals. Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy George testifies during a Senate Committee on Armed Services, June 5, 2025 in Washington.Kayla Bartkowski/Getty ImagesUnder Hegseth, however, nearly two dozen top officers have been fired or sidelined, many of whom are women or minorities, with no public explanation of such radical disruptions. That lack of rationale has fueled unease among senior officers and other defense officials, where some feel top-level firings can seemingly happen on a whim, multiple officials have explained. Popular Reads"When you collectively, the president, the secretary and yourself decided to fire the chief of staff of the Army, publicly, overtly, and I would even say, humiliatingly and cruelly, without any offer, apparently, of a graceful exit, you at least owe Congress, the public, and I think most importantly, the soldiers, some explanation," Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, said to Driscoll in Thursday's hearing. Additionally, Hegseth removed four colonels from consideration for promotion to general, taking them off the list of names that were set to be sent to the White House and eventually the Senate, according to a U.S. official. Two of those officers are Black and two are women. However, several non-white officers and women remained on the final promotion list, according to a review done by ABC News.Alongside George, Hegseth also abruptly fired Gen. David Hodne, head of the Army's Transformation and Training Command, and Maj. Gen. William Green, the Army chief of chaplains. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll stan