Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, pumps his fist after a Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Wilson Beaver is a policy adviser for defense budgeting in the Allison Center for National Security at The Heritage Foundation.
Senate confirmation hearings are set to officially begin this week for Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth. No doubt, the media and some members of the Senate will try to use this opportunity to criticize Hegseth’s personal history and lack of Pentagon experience, but this is a mistake.
Indeed, if the chaos in Kabul, wokeness and inefficiency in Washington, and the general decline of America’s military over the last four years under the leadership of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin—a former four-star general and defense contractor board member—have taught us anything, it is that the Defense Department doesn’t need another Washington insider at the helm.
In response, conservatives should use the upcoming hearings to highlight Hegseth’s unique opportunity to deliver what the American people voted for and what the American military needs: a Pentagon that is accountable, efficient, and laser-focused on fighting and winning, especially against our No. 1 adversary, China. […]
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