President-elect Donald Trump is steadily revealing Cabinet picks for his incoming administration. Some are squarely from the legislative Establishment of the GOP: Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of State and Representative Elise Stefanik for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations fit that mold.
But Trump went in a very different direction for his Defense secretary pick, tapping Fox News commentator and Army National Guard officer Pete Hegseth. “With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America Will Never Back Down,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial on Tuesday.
Hegseth’s selection was met with surprise from many in the defense world as well as members of the U.S. Senate who will be required to confirm him. Unlike recent secretaries who have led the Defense department, Hegseth lacks substantial military leadership experience and his name wasn’t among the many previously floated for the role. In recent years, Hegseth has been critical of women serving in combat roles and has denounced programs intended to promote inclusion in the military as “woke.” Though the Republican Party will hold control over the Senate, Hegseth’s confirmation isn’t assured, with his personal opinions and lack of Establishment roles expected to be likely sticking points for some. Here’s what we know about Hegseth.
Who is Pete Hegseth?
Hegseth, 44, is an infantry officer in the Army National Guard who previously served in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay and was awarded two Bronze Stars for his service, per his website.
Hegseth has been a contributor to Fox News since 2014 and has served as a co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend since 2016. During one viral moment on the program in 2015, Hegseth was attempting to hit a target by throwing an axe and overshot, striking a nearby member of the West Point marching band. The drummer did not appear significantly injured in the immediate aftermath, but they later sued Hegseth following the incident.
Hegseth received a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. During a Fox & Friends Weekend segment in 2022, Hegseth wrote “RETURN TO SENDER” on his Harvard degree, vowing to mail it back and quipping that his alma mater should be known as “Critical Theory University.”
What are his views?
Hegseth has been a staunch advocate for various conservative causes. In his book, The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, he railed against the “woke policies” of President Joe Biden and former president Barack Obama, which he saw as weakening the U.S. military and making recruitment to the ranks more difficult.
“For the past three years — after President Barack Obama poured the social justice foundation — the Pentagon, across all branches, has embraced the social justice messages of gender equity, racial diversity, climate stupidity, and the LGBTQA+ alphabet soup in their recruiting pushes,” Hegseth wrote in an excerpt published by the New York Post. “Only one problem: There just aren’t enough lesbians from San Francisco who want to join the 82nd Airborne. Not only do the lesbians not join, but those very same ads turn off the young, patriotic, Christian men who have traditionally filled our ranks.”
In a recent podcast interview, the Fox News commentator made clear that he opposes allowing women to serve in combat roles, a change made by former Defense secretary Ash Carter in 2016. “I’m straight up just saying: We should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective. Hasn’t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated,” Hegseth said on the Shawn Ryan Show.
In his personal capacity, Hegseth has shown leniency to military members who have been accused of war crimes. In 2019, the Daily Beast reported that Hegseth privately pushed for then-president Trump to pardon servicemen facing allegations of war crimes. According to the outlet, Hegseth had multiple conversations with Trump about Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who was accused of murdering a teenage ISIS prisoner and posing with the corpse in a photo. Gallagher was acquitted of the most serious charges but demoted for taking the photograph. Trump would later intervene to prevent Gallagher from losing his rank.
What has the response been?
Reaction to Hegseth’s nomination has been mixed among the Republican senators who would need to confirm him. If Republicans win a 53–47 majority as expected, barring the loss of Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania, the party can only afford four defections in the vote. Trump is also pushing for senators to allow recess appointments of his nominees, which would give the president-elect the power to circumvent Senate confirmations for his nominations.
Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican who has a history of breaking from her party on confirmation votes, met the news of Hegseth’s selection with a simple “Wow.”
“I’m just surprised. I’m not going to comment whether it’s good, bad, or indifferent. I’m just surprised, because the names that I’ve heard for secretary of Defense have not included him,” she said, per CNN.
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana also appeared caught off guard by the pick. “Who?” he said, per NBC News. “I don’t know Pete. I just don’t know anything about him.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was immediately opposed to Hegseth’s nomination, likely reflecting the general view of her fellow Democrats, who aren’t expected to back him. “A Fox & Friends Weekend co-host is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense,” she wrote on social media.
But Hegseth has his backers in the chamber. Roger Wicker, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CNN that he was “delighted at the prospect of working with” Hegseth. House Speaker Mike Johnson also appears supportive of Trump’s pick, saying in a statement that Hegseth is “dedicated to ensuring that our military is focused on lethality and readiness, not woke ideology.”
Hegseth’s Fox News colleagues expressed their shock at his selection as Defense secretary. “You’re telling me Pete is going to oversee 2 million employees?” one of his co-hosts said Tuesday.
