Pete Hegseth, the new defense secretary, has pledged to restore the “warrior spirit” to the US military, which he believes has been weakened by its diversity.
His view that the military has lowered its standards in welcoming women and racial minorities may face resistance when he takes over the reins of the Pentagon, which sees its diversity as an advantage and is trying to build a force that reflects America.
Mr Hegseth said standards “dropped” when women began serving in combat positions. But he will be matched by more than 10,000 women currently in combat roles, from artillery and infantry positions to combat engineers and even a few Green Berets and Army Rangers.
He pledged to “address our recruiting, retention and readiness crisis” and bring “lethality” back to the Pentagon. But the military has focused on these issues for years.
“The entire Department of Defense will be prepared to focus on killing when he walks through that door, and not fight him on it,” said Peter Feffer, a political science professor at Duke University who has studied military affairs for decades. In an interview.
Mr. Hegseth, an Army veteran and former Fox News host, has delivered right-wing talking points in his criticism of the military in podcast appearances and in his book “The War on Warriors.”
“Affirmative action positions have risen dramatically, with ‘firsts’ becoming the most important factor in filling new leaders,” he wrote in his book, criticizing the military for being too “woke.” “We won’t stop until Black queer trans women run it all.”
But in his goal of reshaping the army, which has three million employees, Hegseth, 44, faces a huge challenge. The $849 billion organization includes 1.3 million active-duty members and 750 military bases around the world. People of color make up about 43 percent of the workforce.
“He may quickly discover that in order to retain the high caliber of people he wants, he will have to connect with women,” Mr. Pfeiffer said. “He may find that some of his best people are black women and men,” and other people of color, he said.
In a letter to the Ministry of Defense on Saturday, Mr Hegseth set out his key priorities. In addition to reviving the “warrior spirit,” he emphasized strengthening the country’s industrial base and simplifying the cumbersome military processes for purchasing new weapons.
He also said the Pentagon “will restore deterrence by defending our homeland” and working with allies to confront the growing military threat from China.
At the Senate hearing, Mr. Hegseth admitted that he had never been able to manage more than a few hundred people at a time. But he viewed his unconventional background — his predecessors were generals, lawmakers or former government officials — as an advantage in President Trump’s drive to change the establishment.
Mr. Hegseth also made clear that he believes Mr. Trump’s Electoral College and his victory in the popular vote give the president a mandate to implement his agenda. In fact, even before the Senate voted on Friday night to approve Mr. Hegseth’s nomination, the Pentagon announced that it would do so. Rush 1500 on active duty Marines and Army soldiers have arrived at the southwest border to help prevent migrants from entering the country, one of Trump’s main policy goals.
It was Mr. Hegseth He was confirmed by a vote of 51 to 50It is the smallest margin for confirmation as defense secretary since the position was created in 1947, according to Senate records. Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to cast a tie-breaking vote after three Republicans joined all Democrats in voting no.
One of those Republicans, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, cited Mr. Hegseth’s lack of strategic vision as one reason he opposes him. “Mr. Hegseth made no substantive observations about how to defend Taiwan or the Philippines against a Chinese attack, or even whether he believes the United States should do so,” McConnell said. statement Friday. In this regard, he has failed to formulate a strategic vision in any detail.”
Mr McConnell also took a dim view of the claim that Mr Hegseth would restore a “warrior culture” to the armed forces. “Restoring ‘warrior culture’ will not come by trading one group of culture’s warriors for another,” he said.
Most defense secretaries, with the exception of Chuck Hagel in 2013, have successfully received confirmation votes. President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J., has been confirmed. Austin III, by 93 votes to 2. The Senate voted 98-1 to confirm Jim Mattis, Trump’s first Pentagon chief, and 90-8 for his successor, Mark T. Esper.
Traditionally, both parties have embraced the belief that the military should be nonpartisan. Military leaders typically appoint defense secretaries who have the ability to garner support from Democrats and Republicans at Pentagon budget time, as well as from the public.
But for 30 minutes Friday night, after all 100 senators had voted, Hegseth’s confirmation ratio stood at 50-50, a stark display of the military’s apolitical demise.
Many Democrats who voted against him insist he is unfit for duty.
Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said he was unmoved by Mr. Hegseth’s testimony at his confirmation hearing, which focused on allegations of sexual assault, accusations of alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement.
“He lacks the character, competence and commitment required to do the job,” Mr Reid said after the hearing. “In fact, he is the least qualified candidate for Secretary of Defense in modern history.”
Mr Hegseth denied the sexual assault charge, saying the encounter was consensual and he was never charged with a crime. He described the accusations against him as “anonymous slander.”
Mr Hegseth’s comments have already had a chilling effect on the highest ranks of the Army.
At his confirmation hearing, he pledged that “every senior officer will be reviewed on the basis of merit, standards, ability to kill, and adherence to lawful orders that will be given to him,” opening the door to a political purge of generals and admirals.
The first to fall under Trump’s command was the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Linda L. Fagan, the first uniformed female commander of a branch of the armed forces. Among the reasons She was fired It was an “overemphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion,” according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.
A military official said the admiral was informed on the evening of President Trump’s inauguration that she had been fired, while she was waiting to take a photo with Trump at the commander-in-chief’s ceremony.
Even some of Mr. Hegseth’s strongest supporters in Congress have warned of a witch hunt in the upper ranks that could lead to low morale.
“There’s been a lot of talk about firing woke generals,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota. “I would say give these men and women a chance under new leadership.”
Republican leaders embraced Mr. Hegseth’s view as they cheered his confirmation. “Under President Trump and Pete Hegseth, peace through strength has returned,” Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement after the vote.
Mr. Pfeffer, the Duke University professor, suggested that Mr. Hegseth would find a military that had not escaped the killing, recruiting and readiness issues he highlighted.
In fact, Gen. Charles Brown Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has prioritized these issues for years. Mr. Hegseth proposed firing General Brown, a four-star fighter pilot with decades of military experience.
Gen. Brown, known as CQ, was chief of staff of the Air Force before becoming president, and talked about lethality and readiness in a 2021 recruiting video. “When I fly, I put my helmet on, I put my visor down, and I put my mask up,” he says, over footage showing fighter pilots. Americans wear seat belts on military planes. “You don’t know who I am, whether you’re African American, Asian American, Hispanic, white, male or female.”
“You know I’m an American pilot, and I kick your ass,” he continues. “This is General C.Q. Brown Jr., come and join us.”
