Friday, December 13, 2024
Friday, December 13, 2024
President-elect Trump announced today he has selected Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary.
“Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” Trump said. “With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice -- our military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
Hegseth, 44, currently co-hosts Fox and Friends Weekend.
Trump, in his announcement, highlighted that Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran of the Army and is the author of the book “War on Warriors.”
“The book reveals the leftwing betrayal of our warriors and how we must return our military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability and excellence,” Trump said.
An Amazon description of the book from the publisher says it “uncovers the deep roots of our dysfunction -- a society that has forgotten the men who take risks, cut through red tape, and get their hands dirty. The only kind of men prepared to face the dangers that the Left pretends don’t exist. Unlike issues of education or taxes or crime, this problem doesn’t have a zip code solution. We can’t move away from it. We can’t avoid it. We have only one Pentagon. Either we take it back or surrender it altogether.”
Hegseth, who holds degrees from Princeton and Harvard and served as an infantryman in Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the Minnesota National Guard, has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration and its approach to diversity, equity and inclusion. He ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in Minnesota in 2012 and was also formerly head of Concerned Veterans for America, a group funded by the Koch brothers that advocates for outsourcing veteran healthcare.
At Fox News, Hegseth lobbied then-President Trump in 2019 to intervene in the war-crimes cases of three U.S. service members, which ultimately led to their pardons.
Though earlier media reports on possible defense secretary picks included the names of several sitting Republican members of Congress, Hegseth’s name was not previously reported and may potentially come as a surprise to those who play the Washington parlor game of guessing who might land plum jobs in an upcoming presidential administration.
Trump has had tumultuous relationships with defense secretaries in the past, with five serving in his first term and leaving office either by resigning, being fired or serving briefly as interim leaders.
Two previous defense secretaries, Jim Mattis and Mark Esper, have publicly rebuked Trump.
Esper told NPR in October that he is worried that Trump would install loyalists at the Pentagon.
“My concern has always been in a second term that Trump and those around him learned the lesson that you have to get the right people in, people who will be loyal to you and what you want to do in your policies, people who aren't necessarily loyal to the Constitution, but to the president,” he said. “And it's a big distinction. It's certainly a significant one when it comes to the oath of office to the Constitution that we all swear, but particularly the military.”
If he is to serve, Hegseth must be confirmed by the Senate, where he is likely to face fierce Democratic opposition. The Senate GOP, however, has won the majority and, if united, could opt to move Trump’s nominees quickly.
Meanwhile, Trump is demanding that the incoming Republican Senate majority allow him to make recess appointments to bypass the confirmation process, allowing him to place nominees in his administration without Senate confirmation.