Hegseth’s Views May Clash With Reality at Defense Department
The new defense secretary’s goals run counter to the military’s apolitical tradition and efforts to build a force that mirrors America.
It Is Happening Every Day, Every Where
The new defense secretary’s goals run counter to the military’s apolitical tradition and efforts to build a force that mirrors America.
After being sworn-in by Vice President JD Vance, the Pentagon’s new leader addressed the Defense Department’s three million employees.
Senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell voted against confirming Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary. To Capitol insiders, their decisions weren’t surprising.
In 2017, Betsy DeVos barely survived her confirmation vote to become President Trump’s secretary of education.
With two G.O.P. senators opposed, Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s pick for defense secretary, can afford to lose only one more. If he is confirmed, it is likely to be by the smallest margin for that post in modern times.
Samantha Hegseth is contractually obligated not to speak ill of him, according to the terms of their divorce. A former sister-in-law has said Pete Hegseth was threatening and abusive toward Samantha Hegseth.
For the last 50 years, almost every nominee to lead the Pentagon has been a consensus pick who drew lopsided margins of support in the Senate. Pete Hegseth’s nomination has been a notable exception.
The settlement’s existence after a 2017 accusation had been documented before the defense secretary nominee’s confirmation hearing this month, but the amount had not been known publicly.
The removal of a portrait of Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from a Pentagon hallway was among the president’s early actions.
The vote may indicate whether fresh allegations about his personal conduct that surfaced this week are enough to stop his confirmation.