A Pentagon finance official with a 22-year career at one of the world's largest accounting firms is quietly building support for the Army's top civilian job, and his backers are making their case in public, an unusual move that signals how unsettled Army leadership has become.
Marc Andersen, the assistant secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller, is on a White House short list for Army secretary, Military Times reported on September 9, citing interviews with six people, including two senior Pentagon officials. The position has been vacant since Dan Driscoll resigned on August 31 amid reported friction with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Andersen did not respond to Military Times' request for comment. But his supporters, ranging from a retired Army special operations master sergeant to a retired four-star Air Force general, are not waiting for the White House to make up its mind. They are making the case publicly, a break from the typically closed-door selection process that underscores the urgency some inside the Pentagon feel about restoring stability to the Army's top ranks.
An Army running without permanent leadership at the top
The Army is operating without a permanent secretary and without a chief of staff. Hegseth fired Gen. Randy George from the chief of staff role in April. Driscoll walked out the door on the last day of August. President Trump tapped Adam Telle, the assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works and a former White House liaison to the Senate, to serve as acting secretary on September 4.
Trump and Hegseth called Telle a "great patriot." But Telle is a placeholder. The White House has not announced a timeline for naming a permanent nominee, and Military Times reported it remains unclear when Trump will make that call.
That vacuum matters. Driscoll's departure capped months of reported tension with Hegseth, and the Army is in the middle of budget decisions, a continuing resolution, and an audit overhaul with a 2028 target date. Soldiers and their families do not benefit from leadership musical chairs at the Pentagon.
Andersen's backers pitch stability and a clean record
Pasha Palanker, a retired Army special operations master sergeant, posted an endorsement of Andersen on Instagram on September 5. The post included a series of photos of the two men together and language that read more like a campaign ad than a casual tribute.
Palanker wrote:
"He listens. He cares. He gets things done. He combines the heart of a servant leader with the experience of an execution-oriented business leader turning vision into resources, infrastructure, and measurable results while keeping Soldiers and families at the center."
Palanker first met Andersen during the COVID-19 pandemic at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where Andersen was volunteering and handing out diapers to military families. That detail, a finance executive spending his time distributing baby supplies at a military installation, is the kind of story supporters are circulating to distinguish Andersen from the rest of the field.
A senior Pentagon official, speaking anonymously, put it bluntly: "Marc has already proven he can do the job." The official cited Andersen's work rolling out the Army budget, steering the service through a government shutdown and continuing resolution, and resetting the Army's audit process.
"He reset the Army's audit and put the service on track for 2028, and he built the consensus across the Department of War to get there. He brings stability, and he keeps transformation moving."
Retired Air Force Gen. Timothy Ray, who leads Business Executives for National Security and worked with Andersen on efforts to revitalize parts of the Army's industrial base and bring in private-sector best practices, offered his own assessment. Trump's appointment of Telle as acting secretary bought the White House time, but Ray's comments suggest Andersen has allies who carry weight on Capitol Hill.
"He's fantastic to work with, really understands the problems and solutions needed and has a great relationship with the Hill."
From EY partner to Pentagon budget chief in one cold call
Andersen spent 22 years as a partner at EY, the global accounting and consulting firm formerly known as Ernst & Young. In a podcast interview posted in late August, he described how he ended up at the Pentagon: Driscoll cold-called him about the Army's Strategic Capital Initiative, a program that partners the military with the private sector to advance modernization.
Andersen said he had previously been considered by the Trump administration for U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, a nod to his family roots; his grandfather emigrated from the country. But the Army pitch won out.
"I got to know Dan, I got to know the team, and [they're] just great people, and I wanted a chance to serve."
The Senate confirmed Andersen 51, 47 in an en bloc vote in October 2025. He took office and immediately faced a government shutdown and continuing resolution, the kind of fiscal chaos that rewards a comptroller's skill set more than a politician's instincts.
Parnell's confirmation odds cast a shadow over Hegseth's preferred pick
Andersen is not the only name on the short list, and he may not be the Defense Secretary's first choice. Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's top spokesman and Hegseth's reported favorite for the job, is also under consideration. So are Rep. Brian Mast, a Florida Republican who lost both legs serving in an Army explosive ordnance disposal unit in Afghanistan in 2010, and Derrick Anderson, the assistant secretary of defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict. Telle, the acting secretary, is also in the mix.
Parnell carries baggage that could sink a Senate confirmation. He suspended a Pennsylvania Senate campaign in 2021 after allegations of abuse surfaced in divorce and child custody proceedings with his estranged wife. A restraining order filing that documented those allegations was ultimately denied. A Pentagon official told Military Times that Parnell's custody arrangement had since been changed and that "the judge didn't find the complaints sufficiently credible."
Still, one senior Pentagon official said it was "hard to see" Parnell getting confirmed by the Senate. That assessment, from inside the building Parnell works in, is a significant obstacle. Bipartisan questions about Hegseth's Pentagon leadership have grown louder since Driscoll's exit, and a bruising confirmation fight over Parnell would only amplify those concerns.
Parnell assumed his current Pentagon role in February 2025 and announced on the social media platform X in 2024 that his custody arrangement had been changed. But the political reality is that Senate Democrats, and possibly some Republicans, would make the old allegations the centerpiece of any hearing.
Mast and Anderson round out a crowded field
Rep. Mast brings a powerful personal story: a combat-wounded veteran who continued in public service after losing both legs. But Military Times offered no detail on where his candidacy stands relative to Andersen's or Parnell's.
Derrick Anderson, who oversees special operations policy at the Pentagon, is described as generally liked and respected inside the building but carries a relatively low public profile. In a selection process where public support and Senate relationships matter, that could be a disadvantage.
The broader context is an Army that has been through a punishing stretch of leadership upheaval. Hegseth has blocked multiple Army officers from promotion in recent months, and the firing of Gen. George left the service without its top uniformed leader. The Navy secretary position has been filled on an acting basis since April as well, though Trump nominated Hung Cao for that role in early September.
Andersen's supporters are betting that a candidate with a clean record, deep financial expertise, and no confirmation land mines is exactly what the Army needs right now. Whether the White House agrees, and whether Hegseth's preference carries the day, remains the open question.
An Army without a permanent secretary or a chief of staff is an Army running on autopilot. The soldiers who serve in it deserve better than a leadership vacancy that drags on because Washington cannot settle its own internal politics.
