DAVID BOSSIE: The Senate Should Confirm Pete Hegseth Without Delay

At a time when the American people voted for fundamental change and reforming the federal government at every department and agency large and small, Pete Hegseth is an outstanding choice to lead the Department of Defense.

Getting the Pentagon refocused on war fighting and back on track is a top priority for the American people and Hegseth is well-qualified to lead that important mission.

Above all, Hegseth believes that the Department of Defense exists to keep the American people safe by training and equipping our miliary to win wars.  Under the incompetent leadership of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, we have seen a Pentagon wandering dangerously off course, distracted by woke cancel culture and left-wing extremists.

In true form, Biden, the entrenched career Washington politician chose Lloyd Austin, a board member at a powerful defense contractor to lead an agency with a nearly $850 billion budget. This sent the wrong signal to the American people who yearn for transparency, fiscal responsibility and reform at a department infamous for its waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars. Make no mistake, Hegseth has an outsider’s mentality and will prioritize innovation and streamlining the breathtakingly bloated Pentagon bureaucracy.  President-elect Donald Trump, the no-nonsense businessman, will demand results, and Hegseth will get the job done because he is not beholden to Washington special interests.  Truth be known, this is part of the reason Hegseth finds himself under attack by the biased mainstream media.

During Biden’s single term in office, Secretary Austin rubbed elbows with insiders and powerbrokers while Hegseth called them out on national television and demanded a change in leadership and direction. This is no time for another product of the failed D.C. establishment and defender of the broken status quo at the Department of Defense. The American people deserve a leader like Hegseth who will work hand in glove with Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to finally get Pentagon spending under control. They say that sunlight is the best disinfectant, and Hegseth will open the window shades at the Pentagon on day one.

First and foremost, Hegseth is an American patriot who sees it as his sacred honor to help Trump save America by modernizing our nation’s fighting force. Hegseth is no stranger to service; in fact, it’s in his DNA.  He served honorably in the Army National Guard over a twenty-year period and was promoted to the rank of major due to his distinguished military career. Perhaps most notably, Hegseth served overseas in both Afghanistan and Iraq and was awarded with two Bronze Stars for his meritorious service.

Hegseth believes deeply in Trump’s successful peace-through-strength foreign policy doctrine. Americans have become absolutely dismayed with the Biden-Harris administration’s projection of weakness around the globe and the horrors that have resulted because of the failed policy.

The botched withdrawal from Afghanistan told our adversaries that under President Joe Biden and Secretary Austin the American government could be bullied by far-left radical political activists into making poor national security decisions. The Afghanistan debacle cost the lives of thirteen American servicemembers and prompted Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine and greenlight unspeakable carnage. Biden’s and Harris’ lack of backbone also signaled to Iran — the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism — that now was the perfect time to mobilize their terror proxies to strike Israel and commit barbaric atrocities against innocent people throughout the region. Hegseth will stand side by side with Trump and make it clear to our allies and adversaries alike that American strength and moral clarity is back, and bad actors will be held accountable.

And just as importantly, at home Hegseth will be a tireless advocate and role model for those considering military service. During the malaise of the Biden-Harris years, military recruitment is down — and why wouldn’t it be. Few want to join a woke-minded military that is more concerned with appeasing political extremists at liberal universities and anti-American think tanks than keeping America safe. This changes with Trump’s choice of Hegseth as secretary of Defense. Dangerous woke policies at DOD are about to become a thing of the past. Americans will once again sign up for service and the spirit in our military will be at an all-time high because being a member of the strongest fighting force the world has ever seen is the honor of a lifetime.

Hegseth should be confirmed by the Senate without delay.

David Bossie is the president of Citizens United and served as a senior adviser to the Trump-Pence 2020 campaign. In 2016, Bossie served as deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President and deputy executive director for the Trump-Pence Transition Team.

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