Hegseth Says He’d Be Pentagon ‘Change Agent,’ Rebuffing Critics at Confirmation Hearing
- Trump pick says it’s time for someone with ‘dust on his boots’
- Hegseth says he was target of ‘orchestrated smear campaign’
Pete Hegseth during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, on Jan. 14.
Photographer: Kent Nishimura/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary, is portraying his lack of high-level management experience as an asset, saying at his confirmation hearing that he’d be a “change agent” to “restore the warrior ethos” with “no vested interest in certain companies or specific programs or approved narratives.”
But Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in his opening remarks, “Mr. Hegseth, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job.”