Pete Hegseth was confirmed as secretary of defense late Friday after a narrow 50-50 split in the Senate that required a tie-breaking vote from Vice President J.D. Vance. Hegseth was sworn in by the new vice president Saturday morning.
Hegseth released a “Message to the Force” shortly after being sworn in that outlined his plans for “restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military, and reestablishing deterrence.”
“We will revive the warrior ethos and restore trust in our military. We are American warriors. We will defend our country,” Hegseth’s statement read. “Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear. The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose.”
“We will rebuild our military by matching threats to capabilities. This means reviving our defense industrial base, reforming our acquisition process, passing a financial audit, and rapidly fielding emerging technologies. We will remain the strongest and most lethal force in the world,” he continued. “We will reestablish deterrence by defending our homeland — on the ground and in the sky. We will work with allies and partners to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific by Communist China, as well as supporting the President’s priority to end wars responsibly and reorient to key threats. We will stand by our allies — and our enemies are on notice.”
“Like each of you, I love my country and swore an oath to defend the Constitution. We will do that each and every day, as one team,” he later concluded. “Together we will accomplish the President’s mission to deter war, and if necessary, defeat and destroy our enemies. Godspeed!”
Vance joked about returning to the Senate so soon after swearing in as vice president early last week, writing on X, “I thought I was done voting in the senate.”
