Defense

Driscoll shuts down social media accounts after post celebrating Duckworth

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by Filip Timotija - 04/15/26 2:51 PM ET

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by Filip Timotija - 04/15/26 2:51 PM ET

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Army Secretary Dan Driscoll ordered that all social media accounts affiliated with an Army unit be shut down after a post celebrating Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) sparked mixed reactions online.

Soldier for Life (SFL) — an Army unit that connects and helps shape and amplify services, programs and policies for soldiers, veterans and their families — drew some outrage from the right over the weekend after sharing a post honoring Duckworth, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Iraq War veteran who lost both of her legs after an attack on her Black Hawk helicopter in 2004.

Driscoll’s critics panned the post, which was taken down by Monday, along with all social media accounts related to SFL, including LinkedIn.

“Senator Tammy Duckworth is a vet, but one who has dedicated her career to division and infantile displays in the halls of congress,” wrote one combat veteran, adding “this is who @SecArmy Dan Driscoll’s Army continues going out of its way to pay homage to.”

The post, which tells Duckworth’s life story starting with her childhood in Asia, includes a photo of the now-senator in fatigues, along with the Army’s logo.

A Department of Defense source familiar with the Army’s reasoning told The Hill that Driscoll directed all social media profiles affiliated with SFL to be shut down following the negative reactions to the post about Duckworth, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

An Army spokesperson told The Hill on Wednesday that the action is “simply a circumstance of the Army handling routine Army business.”

“When this legacy account came to Army leadership’s attention, we realized it was not directly managed by qualified Army personnel and was taken offline, just like the hundreds of accounts before it,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“In December 2025 via Army Directive 2025-25, the Army began closing hundreds of social media accounts that weren’t properly managed by qualified Army personnel, were ineffective, or defunct and mismanaged,” the spokesperson said.

Driscoll signed a memo, titled “Streamlining and Clarifying Army Social Media Use for Organizations,” on Dec. 12 last year to limit the number of authorized official social media accounts within the Army’s umbrella.

The four-page memo said that “all public-facing command social media accounts that do not have an assigned 46-series” public affairs officer, public affairs NCO or Department of the Army civilian public affairs specialist will “deactivate and archive” by Feb. 28 this year.

All commands with authorized social media presences will have to register each account in the Army’s social media directory by Feb. 28, according to the memo.

The Hill has reached out to Duckworth’s office for comment. The Pentagon referred questions about the social media accounts to the Army.

Duckworth, who served more than two decades in both the Army Reserve and Illinois Army National Guard, deployed to Iraq in 2004 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was the first woman within the Army to lose both legs in combat and received a Purple Heart, awarded to those service members wounded or killed in combat by adversary action.

She retired in 2014 as lieutenant colonel after 23 years of military service. The senator was intensely critical of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during his tough confirmation process last year and told him he is unqualified to run the Pentagon. The Illinois senator called on Hegseth to resign in September.

She also pressed Driscoll during his confirmation process, asking the Army chief last January to pledge that he would refuse to obey illegal orders from President Trump. Driscoll said he “would only follow lawful orders.”

Ultimately, Duckworth voted against confirming both political appointees.

The Army secretary and Hegseth have been locked in a simmering battle for influence that has been exacerbated by the recent firing of senior Army officers, including the Army’s chief of staff, Gen. Randy George.

Tensions rose after Driscoll, a close ally of Vice President Vance, was selected last year to help negotiate with Ukrainian officials to potentially end the Russia-Ukraine war, and Hegseth’s “paranoia” has gone up in recent weeks after the president fired two Cabinet officials — Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, The Hill reported last week.

“He’s just really uncomfortable with anyone who could potentially be outshining him,” a current official said previously.

A Pentagon source told The Hill