Pete Hegseth has been confirmed as the Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth: “Dust on His Boots” Before Heaping in the White House and How Democrats voted against Its Implications
Pete Hegseth, the nominee to be the defense secretary, narrowly survived a fierce opposition to his nomination by Democrats who said he was unqualified and not suited to lead the Pentagon, which has a $850 billion budget.
During the first Trump term, Vice President Mike Pence cast a vote to confirm Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, breaking a tie in the process.
Three Republicans and all Democrats joined forces to vote against the confirmation of Mr. Hegseth, thus forcing the Vice President to cast a tiebreaking vote.
The allegations include that he sexually assaulted a woman at the Republican conference and then signed a nondisclosure agreement. His second wife denied physical abuse after a former sister-in-law accused him of “abusive” behavior. And Hegseth was in charge of two veterans’ nonprofit groups where more money was spent than was taken in. He GSeth has called any allegations against him false, the result of disgruntled employees or a campaign by the media.
The 44-year-old Hegseth, a Army National Guard combat veteran and a former Fox News host, has no experience running a large organization, and during his confirmation hearing he addressed that, saying he had a different background. He promised to be a disruptor and a change agent, referring to the “dust on his boots” from his combat deployment to Iraq.
The Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said Hegseth’s work as a Fox News host could be beneficial in his new role at the Pentagon.
A good secretary of defense needs a good top-shelf communicator. No official other than the president has a larger role in telling the men and women in uniform, the Congress and the public about the threats we face and the need for a peace-through-strength defense policy.
HeGSeth wants to restore lethality to a military that he believes has become numb to diversity equity and inclusion programs. He pledged to make sure promotions are based on merit alone and not what he incorrectly describes as quotas for women and minorities.
During his confirmation hearings to lead the Pentagon he was questioned about his claims of a quota system. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., holding a copy of the current military standards for men and women serving in the infantry, said, “Commanders do not have to meet quotas for women in the infantry. That does not exist. The idea that these exist is created by your statements. They do not.”
He criticized top Pentagon leaders including the Joint Chiefs Chairman, the first African American man to hold the job, and the first woman to lead the Navy.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs needs to be fired first. Any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI woke s*** has got to go,” Hegseth said on the Shawn Ryan Show.
The Pentagon was concerned that Hegseth would start firing senior officers. During the waning days of the first Trump administration there were efforts by Trump officials to remove senior officers to get “their” officers in command, according to The Melting Point, by retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former top officer at U.S. Central Command.
“This was over politicization of the officer corps,” McKenzie wrote, “and no single thing could have been more dangerous to the future of the U.S. military than a scheme like this.” In the end, nothing came of these proposed personnel changes.
“I’m straight-up just saying we should not have women in combat roles,” he said. “It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.”
Women have been eligible for ground combat jobs since 2016. The Army has over three thousand women in infantry, armor, and artillery. Another 700 women are in Marine ground combat units.
Hegseth told the Senate armed services committee that every service member should have the chance to compete for jobs in that field regardless of their gender.
“In ground combat roles, the weight of the ruck on your back doesn’t change, the weight of 155 round that you have to carry won’t change, and the weight of the 240 Bravo machine gun won’t change.” He said that there have to be the same high standards for whether it is a man or woman.
Still, Hegseth has charged that standards have been lowered to allow more women into Army ground combat units, a view strongly disputed by Army officials. He will review the standards as secretary.
The military will be providing assistance to the southern border. Already some 1,500 active duty troops have been sent there to assist border patrol, with jobs that include building barriers and providing transportation. According to Pentagon officials, thousands more troops will be sent in the coming weeks.
The Defense Secretary of the United States, Pete Hegseth, is confirmed as Defense Secretary by Slim Margin (Vote: PEGHETH IS CONFIGRED AS Defense Secretary)
Another issue likely to come up is the U.S. relations with NATO members. Trump has criticized the alliance for not spending enough on their defense and recently called for alliance members to spend five percent of their GDP on defense. The U.S. spends less than 3 percent on defense.
Ms. Hegseth said after the vote that she had submitted her affidavit only because she had been assured that it would sway key votes. She said that there are many reasons women don’t tell the truth about powerful men. “What happened today will make women who have experienced abuse and mistreatment even less forthcoming.”
Mr. McConnell stated that Mr. Hegseth didn’t have the necessary skills to handle the defense secretary’s job.
Opponents of his confirmation were hoping to get support from Senator Tillis of North Carolina. Mr Tillis was going to conduct due diligence on all the allegations against him. He appeared to waver, then voted in favor of confirmation.
He said in a statement that he picked Pete because he is passionate about modernizing the military and supporting the brave people who serve in it. He stated he would look forward to working with him to rebuild our military and advance President Trumps peace through strength agenda.
Chuck Hagel, John G. Tower, and Pete Hegseth: Why does he drink too much? In response to Jack Reed, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and the panel
There have been exceptions. Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator, won a narrow victory in 2013 despite opposition from 41 members of his own party over his skeptical views on the Iraq war. John G. Tower, the nominee of President George H.W. Bush, was defeated in a 47-to-53 vote in 1989 amid allegations of alcohol abuse and womanizing.
Mr. Hagel never really recovered from his Senate bruising and resigned under pressure two years into his term. Mr. Mattis resigned after two years in a rebuke of Mr. Trump’s worldviews and treatment of allies, and Mr. Esper was fired by Mr. Trump via a social media post after a year and a half on the job.
Mr. HeGSeth second wife,Samantha, has stated that he did not physically abuse her. A person with knowledge of the findings revealed that a Trump transition official told the leaders of the Armed Services Committee about Mr. Hegseth drinking to excess and continuing to do so.
Reporters’ descriptions of the findings were correct, according to Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the armed services panel. Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi and the panel’s chairman, who was also briefed, called those characterizations “starkly and factually inaccurate.”
On Thursday, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, shared written answers to questions that she put to Mr. HeGSeth, in which he disclosed that he paid $50,000 to a woman who accused him of sexual assault.
Jack Reed said that he would watch him like a hawk and pointed out where they disagreed. I’m going to demand accountability.
Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the armed services panel, said that President Trump and Pete Hegseth would bring peace back to the country.