On his first day as defense secretary, Hegseth called Fort Liberty and Fort Moore by their former names, which belonged to treasonous Americans.

Why is President Donald Trump so committed to having the minimally qualified Pete Hegseth at the head of the Department of Defense? Trump tends to like telegenic people that he’s seen on TV. Check. Trump appears to be attracted to the super-macho war-fighting ethos,

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As the dust settles on the fight over Pete Hegseth's nomination, his confirmation is emblematic of a larger truth about the state of Republican politics.

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The US Senate on Friday approved Pete Hegseth as President Donald Trump’s defense secretary by a razor-thin margin, in which, Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote.

Vice President Vance cast a tie-breaking vote as Hegseth overcame allegations of sexual assault, public drunkenness and questions of financial mismanagement to win Senate approval.

Vice President JD Vance was forced to step in after Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell broke ranks and voted against Hegseth.

Three Republicans voted with every Democrat against Trump’s controversial pick to lead the Pentagon, forcing Vance to step in and put Hegseth over the top.

A Princeton and Harvard-educated former combat veteran, Hegseth went on to make a career at Fox News, where he hosted a weekend show. Trump tapped him as the defense secretary to lead an organization with nearly 2.1 million service members, about 780,000 civilians and a budget of $850 billion.

President Donald Trump was expected to sign a flurry of executive orders focused on the military Monday, including to reinstate troops booted for refusing COVID-19 vaccines, assess transgender forces and further outline rollbacks in diversity programs,

That’s called “jointness,” about which Hegseth knows little. He touted his Army background in the National Guard as a qualification to be secretary of Defense, but just as different cultures, goals and methods divide allies in a coalition, they also divide military branches.