After narrow victory, Hegseth sworn in as new SECDEF

The Honorable Pete Hegseth was sworn in as the 29th Secretary of Defense on Jan. 25, 2025. His confirmation followed a 50-50 tie in the Senate, requiring Vice President JD Vance to cast a vote to break the tie as part of the Vice President’s role as president of the senate.

The unusually narrow confirmation for a defense secretary came after questions over Hegseth’s qualifications to lead the military, especially amid allegations of heavy alcohol use and aggressive behavior toward women, all of which Hegseth denied during his confirmation process.

Following the ceremony, the new SECDEF outlined what he said were his guiding principles: “Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do, rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence.”

“We don’t want to fight wars,” he added. “We want to deter them … and we want to end them responsibly. But if we need to fight them, we’re going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home.”

Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran, having served from 2003 to 2014 and again from 2019 to 2021, serving as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard, attaining the rank of Major. He received the Bronze Star while serving in the special operations forces during a combat deployment to Iraq in 2005. Hegseth has a decorated career of service in the U.S. Army, completing deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and earning two Bronze Stars and two Army Commendation Medals.

Rarely has a Cabinet nominee faced such wide-ranging concerns about his experience — having been a combat veteran, veterans advocate and Fox News host — as well as behavior as Hegseth, particularly for such a high-profile role atop the U.S. military.

He enters office with far less experience than modern defense secretaries before him, acknowledging during his confirmation hearing that he’ll need to build an experienced team as he settles into the job. “I want smarter and more capable people around me than me, and you will get that at the department,” he said in his testimony.

Here in Alaska, Senator Dan Sullivan, Colonel, USMCR (ret.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and chair of the SASC Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, voted to confirm Hegseth as the secretary of defense. Senator Sullivan had previously met with Hegseth and received commitments from him to continue the historic build-up of the military in Alaska, in recognition of the state’s critical importance to national defense, and restore the military’s core warfighting mission.

“I am confident Mr. Hegseth will work to refocus our military on lethality, warfighting and peace through strength,” said Sen. Sullivan. “These have been my top priorities as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and they will be Mr. Hegseth’s. Mr. Hegseth also assured me that he understands the important role that women play in our military, including in combat, as well as the strategic importance of Alaska.”

Alaska’s other senator, Lisa Murkowski, was among three Republican Senators who did not vote for Hegseth.

“Since Mr. Hegseth’s nomination last November, I have met with him and carefully reviewed his writings, various reports, and other pertinent materials. I closely followed his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee and gathered substantial feedback from organizations, veterans, and Alaskans. After thorough evaluation, I must conclude that I cannot in good conscience support his nomination for Secretary of Defense. I did not make this decision lightly; I take my constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent with the utmost seriousness.”

Sen. Murkowski also voiced concerns about his prior experience as he prepares for the immense responsibility of leading the largest military in the world. She acknowledged that Hegseth had revised his previous statements on women in combat since being nominated, though remained concerned. “Women have served our nation with distinction, overcoming immense obstacles to excel in combat and leadership roles, and they deserve to know that their leader honors and values their commitment to our nation.”

Hegseth took the oath from Vice President Vance in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building less than 12 hours after his vote and immediately began serving his term.