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Former Fox News Host Appointed Pentagon Chief

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Former Fox News Host Appointed Pentagon Chief

The Senate narrowly confirmed his nomination.

The US Senate has confirmed Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. Even some Republicans are skeptical about his candidacy. He has neither much management nor political experience. He is a combat veteran, a former TV presenter and a loyal supporter of Donald Trump, writes the BBC.

The session was dramatic. The votes were split evenly: 50-50. US Vice President James David Vance had to exercise his constitutional right. He came to the Capitol and voted, adding the missing vote to Trump's nominee.

A former Fox News host and an army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, 44-year-old Hegseth promises to make major changes to the Pentagon.

But his leadership will be under intense scrutiny, Reuters notes, noting fierce resistance from Democrats and even some Republicans to the controversial nominee. They have concerns about both his qualifications and his temperament.

“We’ve never had a defense secretary like Hegseth before,” Jeremy Suri, a history professor and presidential scholar at the University of Texas at Austin, told Reuters.

The Pentagon job has historically gone to candidates with extensive experience running large organizations with broad bipartisan support. This time, the candidate needed an extra margin of approval.

Three Republican senators voted against Hegseth, including Mitch McConnell, who said he had failed to demonstrate that he could effectively run an organization as large and complex as the Pentagon.

“Mere desire to be a ‘change agent’ is not enough to fill these shoes,” McConnell said.

The Pentagon’s budget is $1 trillion. Hegseth told lawmakers that the largest group he has ever managed was 100 people, and the largest budget was $16 million.

Aside from an unsuccessful run for the Republican senator in Minnesota, Hegseth has limited political experience.

His candidacy has also been marred by a series of allegations, including one from a former sister-in-law who said he abused his second wife to the point that she hid in a closet and had a code word she used with friends if she needed rescuing. Hegseth has vigorously denied the allegations, and his wife has also denied any physical abuse.

Hegseth is a reserve major who served in U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as at Guantanamo Bay, and later led a veterans' rights organization. He has never held a government job.

Appearing on Fox News, he often criticized NATO allies, claiming that China was creating an army “specifically designed to defeat the United States.”

The new Pentagon chief is a long-time and loyal Trump supporter.

The charismatic TV host with his love of crude phrases and tattoos (the inscription “People” on the outer side of his forearm and a large cross on the inner side) quickly became popular — he hosted the Fox & Friends Weekend show for many years.

Hegseth is known to have consistently defended officers accused of war crimes. One of them shot a girl and an elderly man in Iraq, another killed an unarmed teenager. Hegseth personally convinced Trump to pardon the servicemen.

At the same time, Hegseth made statements that women should not serve in combat units.

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