Pete Hegseth has been sworn in as America’s 29th Secretary of Defence, quickly joining President Donald Trump’s Cabinet after a dramatic late-night vote in the Senate installed him as the Pentagon’s leader.
Mr Hegseth took the oath from Vice President JD Vance in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with Mr Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer Rauchet, at his side, and Republican senators looking on.
The ceremony came less than 12 hours after Mr Vance broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate to narrowly seal Mr Hegseth’s confirmation.
In brief remarks, Mr Hegseth outlined what he said were his guiding principles: “Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do, rebuild our military, and re-establish deterrence.”
Thy will be done. America won. Congratulations Mr. Secretary! @PeteHegseth pic.twitter.com/0HBVcwvA6r
— Phil Hegseth (@phegseth) January 25, 2025
“We don’t want to fight wars,” he added.
“We want to deter them … and we want to end them responsibly. But if we need to fight them, we’re going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home.”
He thanked Mr Vance for his tie-breaking vote and joked that his children were happy their father “won in overtime”.
“It is the honour of a lifetime, sir, to serve under you,” Mr Hegseth said, in thanking Mr Trump, who was in Las Vegas on Saturday.
“We look forward to having the backs of our troops and having your back in executing peace through strength, in putting America first and in rebuilding our military.”
The unusually narrow confirmation for a defence secretary came after questions from members in both parties over Mr Hegseth’s qualifications to lead the military, especially amid allegations of heavy alcohol use and aggressive behaviour towards women.
For Mr Hegseth, the challenges ahead are steep, as he takes charge of a sprawling bureaucracy at a time of severe challenges around the globe.
He enters office with far less experience than modern defence secretaries before him, acknowledging during his confirmation hearing that he will need to build an experienced team as he settles into the job.
“I want smarter and more capable people around me than me, and you will get that at the department,” he said in his testimony.
Mr Hegseth also lacks the broad bipartisan support that most have brought to the role. Every Senate Democrat voted against Mr Hegseth’s confirmation, as did three Republicans deeply sceptical of his qualifications for the job.
Adding to the acrimony, Mr Hegseth refused to meet with any Democrats before confirmation, breaking from tradition.
Rarely has a Cabinet nominee faced such wide-ranging concerns about his experience – having been a combat veteran, veterans’ advocate and Fox News host – as well as their behaviour, as Mr Hegseth, particularly for such a high-profile role at the top of the US military.
But the Republican-led Senate was determined to confirm Mr Hegseth and round out Mr Trump’s top national security team.
Democrats, the minority in the Senate, had helped confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in bipartisan votes. But they fiercely opposed Mr Hegseth, with even the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee refusing to support him.
Reacting to the vote, Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York said Republicans have “entrusted the most powerful military in the world to someone with no experience, terrible judgment and serious flaws of character”.
“I hope for the sake of our troops and the good of our country that he can eventually grow into the job,” Mr Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Three Republicans – Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – also voted against Mr Hegseth, questioning his qualifications for the job.
He faced allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican conference in California, though he has denied the claims and said the encounter was consensual. He later paid 50,000 dollars (£40,200) to the woman.
Mr Hegseth also had promised during his confirmation hearings that he would not drink while on the job, were he to be confirmed.
