Pete Hegseth

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Pete Hegseth
Pete Hegseth by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg
Basic facts
Location:Washington, D.C.
Education:•Princeton University (B.A., politics, 2003)[1]
• John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (M.A., public policy, 2013)[2]
Website:Official website

Pete Hegseth is the secretary of Defense, an author, a former contributor on Fox News, and a former officer of the National Guard.[3]

Donald Trump (R) announced on Nov. 12, 2024, that he had selected Hegseth as his nominee for secretary of Defense in his second presidential term.[4] This appointment required Senate confirmation. In a statement, Trump said, "Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice - Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down."[4] Following the nomination, media outlets reported on past misconduct allegations against Hegseth, which he has denied. Click here to read more about Hegseth's response to the allegations.

The Senate confirmed Hegseth as secretary of defense on January 24, 2025, in a 51-50 vote with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Click here to read more about the confirmation process.

Hegseth was born in 1980 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was raised in Forest Lake, Minnesota.[5] According to Hegseth he was inspired to join the military due to a family tradition from his childhood of attending the Memorial Day parade in Wanamingo, Minnesota: “I felt like someday I would serve, someday I would give back to this country. I wanted to be willing to defend and fight for the freedoms that we cherish.”[6] In 2003 Hegseth received a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and later in 2013 a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University.[7][8]

From 2002 to 2021, Hegseth served in the Army National Guard.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many During his tenure, Hegseth was deployed overseas three times serving as a security platoon at Guantanamo Bay, an infantryman in Iraq, and a counterinsurgency instructor in Afghanistan.[9] For his service he received two Bronze Stars, two Army Commendation Medals, the National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Service Star, and the expert infantryman and combat infantryman badges.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many

While serving in the military, Hegseth also worked for two veteran advocacy organizations. From 2007 to 2012 he was the executive director of Vets for Freedom.[7] According to the organization's website "its stated purpose is advocacy of victory in America's ongoing War on Terrorism, and support of candidates with positions consistent with this goal."[10] Hegseth was the CEO of Concerned Veterans for America from 2012 to 2015 which according to the organization's website aims to "Shape a better American future by building engaged communities of veterans and citizens, empowered to deliver solutions to America’s pressing challenges."[7][11]

From 2016 to 2024, Hegseth was the co-host of FOX & Friends Weekend on the Fox News Channel, which he said gave "me a chance to be a part of shaping the opinion and the debates of the day.”[7][6]

Following Trump's nomination of Hegseth, CBS News Minnesota’s Adam Duxter wrote that if confirmed Hegseth “would lead the Pentagon with burgeoning conflicts on multiple fronts, including Russia's war in Ukraine, the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies, the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah, and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.”[9]

Biography

Hegseth received a bachelor's degree in political science in 2003, where he also participated in the Army ROTC and published a campus publication titled The Princeton Tory. Hegseth later attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he graduated in 2013 with a master's degree in public policy.[2]

Hegseth, a second lieutenant, served at Guantanamo Bay as a part of the New Jersey Army National Guard from 2004 to 2005.[12] The following year, Hegseth, now a first lieutenant, was deployed with the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division to Baghdad, Iraq, where he served as an infantry platoon leader. Toward the end of his tour, in 2006, he served as a civil-military operations officer in Samarra.[2] Hegseth returned to active duty in 2012 as a captain. He was deployed to Afghanistan with the Minnesota Army National Guard and acted as a senior counterinsurgency instructor at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul.[2]He was awarded two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge for his service overseas.[2] In 2015, Hegseth became a major and began serving in the Individual Ready Reserve.[2] [1] Hegseth rejoined the National Guard in 2019. He left active duty in 2021, and officially separated from the National Guard's Individual Ready Reserve in January 2024.[13]

From 2007 to 2010, Hegseth served as the executive director of Vets for Freedom. Vets for Freedom was a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that sought to educate Americans "about the importance of achieving success in Iraq and Afghanistan by applying first-hand knowledge to issues of American strategy and tactics on these battlefields."[14] In 2012, Hegseth became the CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, the "nation’s largest center-Right vets group," according to the National Review. He left the organization in 2015.[1][12]

In 2014, Hegseth became a regular contributor on the Fox News channel, co-hosting of "Fox & Friends Weekend" from 2017 to 2024.[2][12][15] During this time period, Hegseth also make appearances on CNN and MSNBC, wrote op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the New York Post, and worked as a contributor for the National Review.[16]

As of 2024, Hegseth had authored four books: In the Arena (2016), American Crusade (2020), Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation (2022), and The War on Warrior: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free (2024).[2][17][18] The publisher's website described The War on Warriors, saying it "uncovers the deep roots of our dysfunction—a society that has forgotten the men who take risks, cut through red tape, and get their hands dirty. The only kind of men prepared to face the dan­gers that the Left pretends don’t exist. Unlike issues of education or taxes or crime, this problem doesn’t have a zip code solution. We can’t move away from it. We can’t avoid it. We have only one Pentagon. Either we take it back or surrender it altogether."[19]

Nomination for U.S. secretary of defense

See also: Donald Trump presidential transition, 2024-2025 and Confirmation process for Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense
Donald Trump's Cabinet
(second term)
Candidate: Pete Hegseth
Position: Secretary of Defense
ApprovedaAnnounced:November 12, 2024
ApprovedaHearing:January 14, 2025
ApprovedaCommittee:Armed Services
ApprovedaReported:Favorable (14-13)
ApprovedaConfirmed:January 24, 2025
ApprovedaVote:51-50

Trump announced on November 12, 2024, that Hegseth would be nominated for U.S. secretary of defense in Trump's second term. Trump said of his nomination, "Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice - Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down."[20]

The Senate Armed Services Committee held a confirmation hearing for Hegseth on January 14, 2025.[21] The Senate confirmed Hegseth in a 51-50 vote on January 24, 2025, with Vice President J.D. Vance (R) casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of Hegseth's nomination. In addition to Vance, 50 Senate Republicans voted in favor of Hegseth's nomination. All 45 Democrats and both Independents who caucus with Democrats voted against his nomination, along with three Republicans: Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Click here to read more about the confirmation process.

Summary of Senate vote on Pete Hegseth's nomination for secretary of defense (January 24, 2025)
Party Votes for Votes against Not voting
Democratic Party Democrats 0 45 0
Republican Party Republicans 50 3 0
Grey.png Independents 0 2 0
Republican Party Vice President J.D. Vance (R) 1 0 0
Totals 51 50 0


Noteworthy events

Denial of allegations of misconduct (2024)

See also: Noteworthy professional misconduct in American politics (2023-2024)

In December 2024, Hegseth denied allegations of past misconduct in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.[22] Hegseth wrote, “I have never backed down from a fight and won’t back down from this one. I am grateful President-elect Trump chose me to lead the Defense Department, and I look forward to an honest confirmation hearing with our distinguished senators—not a show trial in the press.”[22]

The opinion piece was in response to a story published in The New Yorker alleging that Hegseth was "forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran—Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America—in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.”[23]

Previously, in November 2024, Hegseth denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in a California hotel room in 2017.[24] Hegseth said that "the matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared, and that’s where I’m going to leave it."[25]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Pete Hegseth'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Pete Hegseth - Google News

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named nat
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Pete Hegseth, "Bio," accessed November 20, 2024
  3. ↑ Fox News, "Pete Hegseth," accessed December 16, 2016
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Truth Social, "Donald Trump on November 12, 2024," accessed December 2, 2024
  5. ↑ MinnPost, "Hegseth’s baggage is heavy, but he could still be the next leader of the military," November 20, 2024
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Community Magazine, "Pete Hegseth: Fighting the War for American Values," February 4, 2019
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 LinkedIn, "Pete Hegseth," accessed December 2, 2024
  8. ↑ The New Yorker, "Pete Hegseth’s Path from Campus Provocateur to Fox to the Pentagon," November 13, 2024
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 CBS News Minnesota, "Who is Pete Hegseth, Minnesotan picked to be Trump's secretary of defense?" November 14, 2024
  10. ↑ Library of Congress, "Vets for Freedom (VFF)," accessed December 4, 2024
  11. ↑ Concerned Veterans for America, "Home," accessed October 30, 2025
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named fox
  13. ↑ Fox News, "New book 'The War on Warriors' by Pete Hegseth highlights a patriot's concerns about a 'woke' military," June 4, 2024
  14. ↑ Guidestar, "IRS 990-EZ, Vets for Freedom (2011)," accessed December 16, 2016
  15. ↑ USA Today, "Trump taps conservative media pundit Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary," November 12, 2024
  16. ↑ Vets for Freedom, "Brief Biography," accessed November 20, 2024
  17. ↑ Google Books, "American Crusade," accessed November 20, 2024
  18. ↑ Google Books, "Battle for the American Mind," accessed November 20, 2024
  19. ↑ Fox News, "The War on Warriors," accessed November 20, 2024
  20. ↑ X, "Karoline Leavitt on November 12, 2024," accessed November 13, 2024
  21. ↑ U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, "To conduct a confirmation hearing on the expected nomination of Mr. Peter B. Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense," accessed January 9, 2025
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 The Wall Street Journal, "Pete Hegseth: I’ve Faced Fire Before. I Won’t Back Down," December 4, 2024
  23. ↑ The New Yorker, "Pete Hegseth’s Secret History," December 1, 2024
  24. ↑ The Associated Press, "Trump’s pick to lead Defense Department was accused of sexual assault in 2017," November 15, 2024
  25. ↑ Politico, "Hegseth says he was ‘completely cleared’ of sexual assault allegations after release of police report," November 21, 2024
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