At this point, there's one easy way to determine if a particular Pentagon official is doing a good job or not.

If the usual suspects in the media are writing negatively about them, that's a big sign that they're doing exactly what Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump want them to do, and fulfilling their duties.

For example: Sean Parnell, Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman, who is reportedly Hegseth's preference to replace Dan Driscoll as Secretary of the Army. Politico's Daniel Lippman touted a big scoop Tuesday, saying that "Multiple former Trump officials and Hill staffers are accusing Sean Parnell...of inflating his role in passing a 2018 VA reform law. He says it was 'pivotal,' but they said he played no real role."

My first thought when reading this was, "Who cares?" Even taking Lippman's scoop as valid, nearly everyone in Washington inflates their bio. But Trump, who was president at the time the Mission Act was passed in 2018, said in his February 3, 2025 announcement of Parnell's appointment to the Pentagon position that "During my first term, Sean was instrumental in passing the MISSION ACT, the BIGGEST VA reform in History."

Secretary Hegseth defended Parnell, telling Politico that Parnell "helped draft the bill's language and met with members of Congress and veterans across the country to rally support." Lippman said that Parnell didn't respond to requests for comment, but why should he? Was Lippman going to provide evidence that Parnell didn't play a direct role, as one of his sources allegedly claimed?

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If this is all they've got to say against Parnell, this is just sad.