President Trump on Monday moved toward pushing openly transgender people out of the military, directed the Pentagon to end diversity programs and ordered the reinstatement of many service members dismissed for refusing the coronavirus vaccine as he sought to reshape America’s armed forces. The directives, contained in a batch of executive orders, advanced what Mr. … Read more
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived on Monday for his first full day leading the Pentagon, vowing to support President Trump’s priorities of sealing the U.S. border with Mexico, using military planes to deport migrants with uncertain or contested legal status and increasing the military’s combat readiness. The Pentagon last week rushed 1,500 active-duty Marines and … Read more
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he believes the U.S. military has been weakened by diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and has vowed to restore “the warrior ethos” to the armed forces. In one of his first directives to Pentagon employees, Mr. Hegseth sent a short, handwritten note on his official letterhead making this priority clear. … Read more
Pete Hegseth, the newly confirmed defense secretary, has pledged to restore “the warrior ethos” to the U.S. military, which he believes has been weakened by its diversity. His view that the military has diminished standards in welcoming women and racial minorities to the armed forces might run into resistance as he takes the reins at … Read more
Late Friday night, all but three Republican senators voted to confirm President Trump’s pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, creating a 50-to-50 deadlock that required Vice President JD Vance to come break the tie. But close followers of the Senate likely weren’t surprised to see who had defected. The two most senior Republican women in … Read more
Nearly eight years ago, another Trump administration cabinet secretary barely survived her confirmation vote, advancing only after a vice president’s tiebreaker vote. That nominee was Betsy DeVos, the wealthy Republican donor who had almost no experience in public education and who was confirmed to lead the Department of Education. On Feb. 7, 2017, two Republican … Read more
The Senate barreled on Friday toward a late-night vote on whether to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, with the outcome still uncertain as a handful of Republicans weighed whether to back President Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon. Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation was further complicated earlier this week, when a former sister-in-law submitted a … Read more
Pete Hegseth, who faces a Senate confirmation vote on Friday night, could be approved by the narrowest margin for any secretary of defense in modern history. Defense secretaries have historically been consensus nominees, and senators have typically provided strong backing in a demonstration of U.S. governmental unity on national security issues. With the exception of … Read more
Senate Republicans had hoped to rush through confirmation of a flurry of Cabinet nominees in the days immediately after President Trump assumed office. But Democrats, expressing reservations about some picks, are slowing the push, frustrating Republicans and denying the new president the quick action he demanded. “What this is really about is trying to drag … Read more
An ex-sister-in-law of Pete Hegseth’s submitted a sworn statement to senators on Tuesday that accused Mr. Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, of being so “abusive” toward his second wife that she once hid in a closet from him and had a safe word to call for help if she needed to get … Read more