The U.S. Senate has confirmed Pete Hegseth as the new Secretary of Defense.

On Friday, January 24, the U.S. Senate confirmed former Fox News host and Iraq War veteran Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. This was reported by The Washington Post.

It is noted that Hegseth's nomination was supported by 50 senators, while another 50 voted against it. During the vote for the new Pentagon chief, three Republican senators – Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Mitch McConnell – opposed Hegseth amid allegations of alcoholism, sexual assault, and financial misconduct against the candidate. In response, Pete Hegseth denied all accusations.

The decisive vote for the U.S. Secretary of Defense came from Vice President Di Vance, who backed the 44-year-old former National Guardsman Hegseth.

As WP points out, Pete Hegseth pledged to implement Donald Trump's ambitious and disruptive plan. In his first week in office, President Donald Trump and his team managed to deploy thousands of troops to the Mexican border to deter illegal immigration. The administration also dismissed the head of the U.S. Coast Guard, Admiral Linda Fagan – the first woman to lead an American military agency.

Moreover, Pete Hegseth has repeatedly spoken out regarding Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the early weeks of the war, he labeled Vladimir Putin a war criminal seeking to restore the USSR and called for accelerating aid to Ukraine. Despite this, he stated that he does not want “American intervention to penetrate deep into Europe and make Putin feel like he’s being pursued”.